The centerpiece of Escarpment’s latest 2024 vintage white releases is the Escarpment Sauvignon Blanc; this is the first release of this wine under the Escarpment label.
New Zealand is known for its Sauvignon Blanc wines the world over. Escarpment winery, situated on the North Island in Martinborough an area mostly known for its Pinot Noir, has decided to add Sauvignon Blanc to its portfolio from the 2024 vintage, coming from Martinborough’s alluvial gravel vineyard sites. The release also includes the Escarpment Pinot Varietals, Rose, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.
As New Zealand’s flagship grape and much loved on the international stage, it was decided to showcase this variety through our own lens. Sauvignon Blanc is a variety that is very well suited to our region of Martinborough in the Wairarapa and makes up over 40% of plantings currently.
Sauvignon Blanc – The region’s best-kept secret. Intense and vivid with excellent perfume and poised, mineral textural palates. Good mix of herbaceous and tropical characters.
Sculpted by Winemaker Tim Bourne and Viticulturist Rowan Hoskins, the Escarpment 2024 Sauvignon Blanc, is an expression of Martinborough’s terroir, made with an understanding and an articulation to the mineral laden soils and the climate that impacts this variety through the growing season and into harvest. The 2024 vintage wine is very different stylistically to what you will see from Marlborough’s many examples.
Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc’s don’t seem to have the aromatic intensity from that of Marlborough, due to the level of thiols in their wines, instead achieving a texture and minerality that elongates the palate and provides more focused and balanced examples of the style. It is varietally expressive and due to the alluvial gravels on the Martinborough terrace, it displays a limey acid line, that gives our Sauvignon Blanc drive and intensity.
Through winemaking we then build texture around this terroir complexity by utilising barrel fermentation and a small portion of new oak and skin contact. The resulting wine is layered and complex, with some of the classic characteristics (think tropical fruit/gooseberry) but in a more sophisticated package.
Escarpment are focused on creating wines with an identifiable structure, complexity and fruit expression that reflect their distinctive sites and their regional Martinborough accent.
Priced at NZD $30.00, the 2024 Escarpment Sauvignon Blanc is available online and in the Escarpment Tasting Room.