Organic. As you would expect of this producer, Meltwater’s hand-crafted Marlborough Sauvignon hits all the right notes, with considerably more texture and interest than this category typically delivers. For a start, it’s low-cropped from a single, certified organic vineyard in the southern foothills of the Wairau Valley. The grapes were hand-harvested into small bins and indigenous yeast fermentation occurred in tank. —an even rarer approach! For good measure, Paterson explains that during natural fermentation, a good portion of malic acidity drops out of the wine. This results in more palate breadth and means he can ferment all the sugars without having to rely on artificial balance. The wine was aged on lees for nine months over winter.
If Paterson is seeking craft wine that speaks of the vineyard, is hugely drinkable and is great with food, then it’s tick, tick, tick! Opening with a pungent and aromatic nose, the palate is well-textured, crisp and moreish, driven by mouth-watering tangy energy. It gives you all that you would want from Marlborough Sauvignon at this price point—and then some.