Woolshed Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc

Mud House's Single Vineyard Sauvignon from the Woolshed Vineyard in Marlborough's Wairau Plains Southern Valleys, planted in 2002. Soils combine river-terrace gravels with overlying silt and loam, plus gentler erosional-clay hillside slopes - drainage from the gravel and water retention from the clay framed as the structural backbone of the wine. Standard Marlborough Sauvignon protocol: cool-fermented in stainless steel, brief lees contact, no oak. 13% ABV.

2023 in Marlborough was a tricky-then-saved year. A wet winter, cool spring through a variable and protracted flowering, and damp early summer with disease pressure put it on edge. The North Island took Cyclone Gabrielle hard; Marlborough dodged it and was rewarded with a clear, sunny late summer and an extended dry autumn that rescued the vintage. Sauvignon Blanc yields were only average - the loose bunches from poor fruit set actually helped with disease resistance - and the surviving fruit came in clean, with firm acidity and good phenolic ripeness.