Marlborough, New Zealand + Video Link!

Marlborough, New Zealand is one of my favorite places for Sauvignon Blanc, besides from the Loire Valley of France. My favorite producers start at Greywacke, Cloudy Bay, Ten Sisters, Three Brooms and Babich Vineyards. These producers have a special place in my heart and are always winners in my books. The climate for Marlborough is perfect for Sauvignon Blanc, which is why they grow roughly about 50,000 acres of it. With their abundant sunshine, cool nights and relatively fertile, free-draining soils. It's distinctive charming character is primarily thanks to its unique location allowing for cool winds and refreshing nights that allow Sauvignon Blanc to retain its crisp vibrant and refreshing acidity.

The flavor profile of Marlborough, New Zealand tends to be leaning more towards citrus types of fruit, than stone fruits, such as lemon, lime, grapefruit, and passionfruit. In some instances you are able to find a "grassy" note, and this is from a chemical compound called "pyrazines" or "methoxypyrazines." During the growing season, only in a cool climate, when the grapes start to ripen, it releases this chemical compound and that can correlate to the grapes when the fermentation begins and can result in the final product of the wine. There is also another interesting smell, that a lot of people who aren't familiar with the wine world and how crazy and interesting it can be. Some New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can smell like "cat pee." It is believed to derive in part from thiols, organic compounds containing sulphur. Levels of thiols can be affected by the temperature of fermentation. And wine from grapes harvested by machine seems to have higher levels of thiols than those picked by hand. That may be because the harvester can also pick up leaves containing thiol precursors. Such compounds are then transformed in thiols by yeast during fermentation. I don't mention this in the video I did below because I couldn't find any noticeable amount. It could have been there, but I didn't notice it. Have a look for yourself!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvU1k1agcmT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==