Sauvignon Blanc

The Season
The spring of 2009 was one of the warmest ever recorded so the vines got off to a good start with an early bud burst.  Late spring and early summer, however were unseasonably cool and cloudy, sufficiently slowing the development of the grapes to cause us concern.  The skies then cleared and we had three to four months of unbroken sunshine.  This enabled us to leave the fruit on the vine to attain excellent maturity and ripeness.  Cool nights in late February and March helped retain good natural acidity levels.
 

The Season
The growing season was influenced by La Nina weather conditions, resulting in a very mild spring, a warm summer with high sunshine hours and a long, lingering autumn.  In spite of being dry we had infrequent, but well spaced showers keeping the vines very happy.  These conditions enabled us to harvest beautifully ripened, healthy fruit .
 
The Vineyard and vines

This was an ideal growing season for sauvignon blanc as a warm spring and summer were followed by a long, dry autumn, which produced extra ripening, while at the same time allowing the grapes to retain good natural acidity.

The spring and early summer were generally mild and warm leading to a good, but not excessive number of berries “setting” on the vines.  The weather throughout the rest of the summer was excellent.  Autumn rain caused some initial anxieties but cleared without causing a problem.  We were thus able to pick beautifully ripened,

Mild spring weather resulted in early budburst so that the vines got away to a good start.

There followed a hot summer and a warm, dry autumn resulting in the grapes maturing in advance of normal. In spite of this we left the fruit hanging on the vine in order to encourage the development of ripe tropical fruit flavours and give the wine extra richness and depth.

This vintage represents a change in style and direction for Main Divide Sauvignon Blanc. We recognised the exceptional potential of the fruit when the grapes were still on the vine and at that stage carefully planned every step in the wine making, with one aim in view, namely to fuse the unique aromas and flavours into an harmonious whole and tuck them away safely into the bottle. Fine wine takes time and we decided not to hurry the winemaking. We have also allowed it to settle down and develop in the bottle before being released.

A cool spring meant there was a low crop which set on the vines. There followed a hot summer so we picked the Marlborough component early to help retain varietal character. We left the Canterbury grapes on the vines for a longer period in order to get riper flavours within the tropical fruit spectrum.