About this winery

Located in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough, Yealands Family Wines produces award-winning wines in harmony with nature. Yealands Family wines is the culmination of the vision, dedication and hard work of Peter Yealands--a New Zealand pioneer with the goal of creating delicious wines and the world’s most sustainable winery. His motto to “think boldly, tread lightly and never say it cannot be done” guides every initiative at the estate. The wines are produced from vineyards in the Awatere...

See the YEALANDS detail page for more information on this brand

Product notes

The 2012 vintage in Marlborough experienced a cooler spring with delayed bud burst, followed by damp conditions in the summer month of December that led to slow growth of the fruit. This created smaller bunches of fruit with intensity and concentrated flavour.

March proceeded to have at least eight weeks of settled, sunny weather with minimal rainfall. This, combined with reduced cropping, has turned 2012 into one of the best harvests we have experienced yet. Harvest started two weeks later than a ‘typical ‘year and we were still harvesting Sauvignon Blanc, in pristine condition, into May. A longer ripening period on the vine, minimal disease pressure, settled weather and healthy canopies have all combined together to produce outstanding aromatic whites all bursting with purity and intensity of flavour.

Production notes

Seven parcels of Sauvignon Blanc from the Seaview Vineyard and two from our Wairau Vineyard were selected to blend this wine. The parcels were harvested individually over a period of three weeks. The fruit was crushed, de-stemmed and gently pressed. The juice was cold settled for 72 hours, after which the clear juice was racked off, followed by a long cool fermentation in stainless steel to capture and enhance the fruit flavours of blackcurrant, herb and guava. Each of the nine individual parcels were fermented separately using a range of selected yeasts, they were then blended, stabilised, filtered and bottled.

Tasting notes

The Peter Yealands Sauvignon Blanc 2012 shows notes of stone fruit and guava, underpinned with notes of fresh herbs. The palate is brimming with fresh/vivacious fruit that is balanced with a long, crisp mineral finish.

Enjoy with both fresh and cooked seafood dishes such as oysters, prawns, green lip mussels and fish.