Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, 2021
Very pale straw with a slight green hue. On the nose, ginger, green apple and crisp highlights of lime. Citrus focussed palate with quenching acidity and varietal elegance.
Very pale straw with a slight green hue. On the nose, ginger, green apple and crisp highlights of lime. Citrus focussed palate with quenching acidity and varietal elegance.
Very pale straw with a slight green hue. On the nose, ginger, green apple and crisp highlights of lime. Citrus focussed palate with quenching acidity and varietal elegance.
Producer Profile
Ben Glover, of Wither Hills fame, is now focusing on matters closer to home and has taken charge of his family winery, Zephyr.
Referring to himself humbly as the janitor, Ben creates wines from their own vineyards in the renowned Marlborough sub-region of Dillon's Point. The whites especially deserve to be compared with other world class whites rather than merely the best of Marlborough. No more so than with the MKIII Sauvignon Blanc, that is a star in any line up. Taken from the Rabbit Island block that, thanks to its East/West planting, captures both wonderful aromatics and lush tropical notes in its grapes. Once pressed, the juice ferments in barrels to produce a complex, waxy Graves lookalike, albeit at a rather more accessible price point.
Viticulture
The Glover family vineyards, planted in 1985 alongside the meandering Opawa River, have inspired the family’s passion for wine. The vineyard is now very much an aromatic specialist with Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Riesling. The viticultural and winemaking philosophy embraces the structural strengths of the vineyard. The wines show classic cool climate precision matched with palate depth and the ability to support texture. Winemaker Ben Glover says "I have always wanted to express the exquisite refined bouquet, the precise structure and the 'line' of these aromatic wines from our farm. Zephyr allows me to do this - winegrowing is a natural expression and extension of what our family and I have done on this property for years and the opportunity to pay them back with home grown, world class wines is too good to be true," says Ben.
Winemaking
The fruit comes from the Kerseley Estate Single Vineyard. Machine harvested whilst cold, and quickly pressed off skins with free run juice kept separate. This then undergoes a cool ferment with selected Blanc yeasts to ensure the wines are true to the vineyard expression - 2020 was the first vintage where this single vineyard Sauvignon Banc was certified organic and also Vegan friendly. - something the Glover Family have been working towards for the past 5 years as a true expression of their Turangawaewae.
