Stemming from my Oct '01 visit to the vineyard, Wairau River Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc has long been our favorite Marlborough SB. At the time of my visit, the wines were bottled in a Bordeaux-style bottle, and the winemaker opened up a 12-year old wine to show us the ageability of his wines. The wines are more savory and also more dense than the usual Marlborough SB, often displaying an herbal rather than a grassy or capsicum flavor profile. Fast forward to early 2012 when Jean and I took sabbatical leave at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, bringing along our 7-year old son who went to school there (NB: this was a life-changing experience for us all and has imbued all of us with an enduring love for the country and the people of NZ). During our stay, we traveled around Christchurch (then recovering from a devastating series of earthquakes in late 2011) on bicycle and by public transit. Our food shopping expeditions took us to the local Countdown supermarket, and Jean and I would frequently bike back from there with a roasted chicken and two bottles of Wairau River SB in a knapsack.
It was with great pleasure, therefore, when we discovered the local Meijer store started stocking Wairau River, now with secure US distribution. As a result, we get a regular look at each vintage. Today, we compared the two most recent vintages of the wine:
2024 (just released): more tropical fruity and less herbaceous than is the norm for this wine, still with crisp acidity and a mineral overlay.
2023: much more herbaceous and less overtly fruity, but unmistakeably from Marlborough with with requisite minerality and racy acidity.