Noble Sauvignon Marlborough 2006

Michael Coopers Buyers Guide 2009 5 Stars  read more
Gourmet Traveller 97/100  read more
Wine Advocate USA 93/100  read more

Wine Tasting Notes

I think first I should explain what Botrytis is and how it ends up being the source of the world’s most expensive white wine, the fabled Chateau d'Yquem.
Botrytis Cinerea or Noble rot is a commonly found rot that can be devastating to most grape crops around the world. There are many causes but fundamentally it thrives in warm, humid and still conditions. It thrives in a nitrogen rich environment which often accompanies warm wet weather. In our case a number of thunder and lightning storms just before the harvest of our Sauvignon Blanc meant there was an inevitable infection. As botrytis develops it concentrates the grapes natural sugars and imparts a beautiful honeyed character to the resulting wine.
Botrytised fruit was left on the vine to concentrate all those accumulating sugars and at harvest any berries that had not gone completely noble were removed. This meant a team of hand pickers going through removing individual beeries or parts of bunches that had not gone completely botrytic. From a 4 Hectare area we harvested just 2.6 Tonnes of botrytised fruit and from this we extracted only 630 litres of golden nectar.
This truly was a labour of love but a once in a decade a chance like this comes along to make a special wine and we were not about to miss it.

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