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Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 43 Degrees Sauvignon Blanc 2010
 On
Wednesday November 10th, the Winestate Wine of the Year awards took
place in Auckland with Saint Clair’s Matt Thomson being awarded
Winemaker of the Year, while Saint Clair Family Estate was awarded
the highly acclaimed Winery of the Year Trophy. This is the reason
why I have chosen a Saint Clair Family Estate Sauvignon Blanc for
this week’s wine. Sauvignon Blanc is not only what Marlborough is
known for but being the flagship varietal for Saint Clair. The wine
I have chosen has also won medals in its own right.
Like all Saint Clair Family Estate wines, the Pioneer Block 3, 43
Degrees Sauvignon Blanc has been made and selected using a unique
quality assessment programme. This programme starts in the vineyards
and continues through to the winery. The Pioneer Block wines in
particular are made from outstanding small parcels of fruit
identified by Matt Thomson from selected specialist vineyard sites
in the Marlborough region.
You might expect 43 degrees relates to the latitude of the winery
but actually it refers to the angle that the vines are planted. They
are planted at the unusual angle of 43 degrees north-east to South
West.
The vineyard is in the lower Wairau area of Marlborough, east of
Blenheim. The soils are even, fertile and deep, free draining silt
loams. It tends to have a slightly cooler mesoclimate than most of
the Marlborough Valley, with a slower, longer ripening period.
The fruit on this site was carefully monitored during the ripening
process, before being harvested in the cool of the evening at
maximum flavour maturity and physiological ripeness. Once at the
winery, the fruit was pressed off as quickly as possible to minimise
skin contact and juice deterioration. After settling, the juice was
fermented using selected yeast in 100% stainless steel at cool
temperatures to retain fruit flavour and freshness. This particular
block was selected as a Pioneer Block for its unique flavour,
intensity and complexity.
I found the pale straw coloured Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3, 43
Degrees 2010 Sauvignon Blanc to have wonderful, vibrant aromas of
passionfruit, blackcurrant and gooseberry with herbal notes and a
slight hint of citrus blossom. On the palate, I found this wine to
be well balanced full, rich and complex. The flavours of
passionfruit and gooseberry have an underlying tropical fruit note
and crushed herb tones, leading to a long lingering finish of
gooseberry and citrus. It is an excellent example of why Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc is regarded the best in the world.
I would recommend this wine with smoked chicken and salad or fresh
pan-fried fish or scallops. It is a wine that is drinking well now
and is perfect to share with friends over a summer lunch.
Reviewed by Stephen Clark (15/11/2010)
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