Lake Chalice – Sauvignon Blanc ‘The Raptor’ – 2023

PRODUCER NOTE:
Lake Chalice was established in 1989 with a vision of producing internationally recognised wines from the heart of the Marlborough region. New Zealand’s native falcon, the ‘Kārearea’, is proudly displayed on every bottle of Lake Chalice wine. Kārearea favour the remote mountains and foothills of the upper Awatere and Wairau valleys and these valleys are home to Lake Chalice’s three unique vineyard sites. Each vineyard has a diverse microclimate, biodiversity and terroir which are seamlessly translated into multi award winning wines by talented winemaker Chloe Gabrielsen. Taking a boutique approach she handcrafts parcels of fruit from single vineyards into elegant, aromatic, fruit driven wines and has garnered a global reputation of outstanding quality. Certified ‘Sustainable Winegrower of New Zealand’.

VINEYARD:
The grapes are sourced from a single vineyard in the rich loamy soils of the Dillons Point area of Marlborough’s Lower Wairau Valley. Shaped by a slow convergence of tectonic plates, the Wairau Valley offers a veritable patchwork of contrasting soil types linking the Alps in the west with the Pacific Ocean in the east. The eastern flood plain soils are nutrient-rich silty loam, renowned for delivering Marlborough’s iconic tropical flavoured Sauvignon Blanc. In order to capture the maximum expression of regional characteristics, the pruning, irrigation and canopy management is dictated by each variety and by each block of land.

WINEMAKING:
The grapes were harvested in the cool of the evening to retain the freshness and quickly pressed off the skins to ensure minimal skin-contact time. The juice was settled and cool fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with carefully selected yeasts to encourage maximum thiol characters. Thiols are the compounds naturally found on the Sauvignon Blanc grapes which are responsible for Marlborough’s signature tropical notes.

TASTING NOTE:
Inviting ripe grapefruit aromas are neatly framed by notes of blackcurrant leaf, with subtle flinty highlights. Generous and full, layered with grapefruit and blackcurrant, this wine is underpinned by salt and mineral notes through to a long, concentrated finish.

GRAPE:
Sauvignon Blanc 100%.

COUNTRY:
New Zealand

REGION:
Marlborough

SUB-REGION:
Marlborough