Villa Maria Reserve Sauvignon Blanc Clifford Bay, Marlborough – 2017

Villa Maria’s Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc is very fresh, mineral and quite Sancerre-like in style. It is made from fruit in the coastal Awatere sub-region near the Pacific Ocean at the most easterly point of Marlborough. Here, the  cooling ocean influence and predominant easterly breeze leads to long, cool, slow growing seasons and so the  grapes retain high natural acidities and pungent green characteristics. Some of the blend comes from fruit in slightly warmer, more sheltered Awatere valley sites, which softens the acidity somewhat and adds riper lemongrass and grapefruit flavours.