Wild Sauvignon Blanc

VITICULTURE Fruit was sourced from various vineyard sites in the Southern Valleys and the
central Wairau Plains, specifically in Woodbourne, Renwick and Rapaura. Soil types vary from
the young alluvial deposits of Rapaura and Renwick, which contain high proportions of
greywacke river stones, to the older and denser clay-loams of the Southern Valleys. A high
percentage of the vineyards were trained using the divided Scott Henry canopy management
system, with the balance on two- or three-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning).
WINEMAKING Some vineyards were harvested by machine and others by hand, all into halftonne
bins, which were tipped directly into tank presses. The grapes were pressed relatively
lightly and the resulting juice was cold-settled prior to racking into mostly old French oak
barriques.
The juice was allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation, the tail end of
which continued for well over six months. The wine had occasional lees stirring and
approximately two-thirds of the barrels underwent malo-lactic fermentation. It was transferred
out of oak prior to the following harvest and left on yeast lees for a further five months. The
wine was bottled in November 2015 with an alcohol of 13.5%, pH 3.18 and acidity of 6.2 g/l.