Ribbonwood, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Description

Ribbonwood, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc wine is made by Framingham’s Andrew Brown. The name of this range comes from the Ribbonwood trees, New Zealand’s tallest native deciduous species, which grow around the vineyard in Renwick. Sensitive to the environmental responsibility they have for their surroundings, the viticultural team have planted more than 1,000 native shrubs and trees to enhance the biodiversity of the vineyard and improve their wastewater management systems. They also use light-weight bottles and recycled cartons to reduce their carbon footprint.

Ribbonwood, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is Produced in a modern style, Ribbonwood specialises in making wines from fruit from mature to old vines in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. The Sauvignon Blanc vines grown in the original Ribbonwood Block, located near Renwick, are planted in an unusual east-west direction, providing some shade on the south side of the rows and thereby enhancing the gooseberry aromatics in the fruit. In the cellar, they have dozens of small parcels, each fermented in individual tanks of varying sizes. This allows plenty of room to handle a multitude of picking times, yeast strains and temperatures, resulting in optimal blending options.

Ribbonwood, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is Fresh and expressive, this Sauvignon Blanc has racy acidity and passion fruit aromatics. The Pinot Noir is ripe yet vibrant with summer fruit compote flavours, along with savoury, dried herb notes coming from a touch of oak ageing.
Gently off-dry, the palate is juicy with classical Marlborough Riesling flavours of mandarin orange and peach. The finish is mouthwatering with juicy fruit and minerally acidity.

2022 had a wet and mild winter, and lead to a strong and even bud-burst, and healthy canopy growth. There was variable weather during flowering, which caused uneven fruit-set, but with hearty yields nonetheless. This was followed by amazing weather in January, and a challenging and wet February. Given the risk and spread of disease, careful fruit thinning and prudent harvesting over 2022 resulted in only the best fruit reaching the winery. It was a challenging vintage, but proactive vineyard management achieved good results.