2017 Greywacke Wild Sauvignon Blanc
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Tasting notes
As Kevin Judd writes in his notes about this vintage: 'November [2016] will be remembered more for the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that shook the upper South Island than for the unseasonably high rainfall in Marlborough.' He describes this as 'the shortest and most challenging harvest at Greywacke to date – warmer than average'. Creamy citrus with lemon cream on the nose. Such pure fruit. Green fruits too – ripe but not tropical until it warms up. Tighter with more austerity and freshness than the 2016 and 2018. Mouth-watering and finely textured. Elegant. (JH)
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Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
A difficult vintage due to cyclones during the harvest period, yet there's a highly successful, powerful wine here. You can expect flesh on the palate, tied together with a taut acid structure that leaves you smacking your lips. Flinty characters, flirty floral aromas and a tangy green element combine on the mid-length finish, reminiscent of nettles and mint. Drink in the short to medium term.
The barrel-fermented and matured 2017 Wild Sauvignon remains a bit green in character for this taster. The notes of sweet pea and capsicum come too close to asparagus and green bell pepper, despite grapefruit nuances and the complexity-invoking influence of wild yeast and French oak barrels. It's medium-bodied and silky in texture on the mid-palate, then finishes tart, underscored by lemon-lime-grapefruit acids. Other recent vintages have been more pleasurable.
A very complex and quite different style with plenty of reductive, flinty funk and toasted-lime zest, as well as clotted cream and passion fruit. The palate has a rich and fluid feel with plush, smoothly fleshy build and a sweeping, round finish. Drink now. Screw cap.