From Anne Davis and Louise Wedlake the ‘mumpreneurs’ behind Sirens Wines, and Winemaker Sean Hougton, comes a new venture with four new wines produced under the label Mackenzie’s Pardon.

Anne and Louise have been heavily involved in community fundraising since launching Sirens Wines and have now released a new range of wine specifically made in conjunction with The Prostate Cancer Foundation – their aim is to raise awareness of Prostate Cancer while at the same time raising funds through donating a at least .25c from the sale of each bottle sold to the foundation.

The Mackenzie’s Pardon line up are a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, a 2010 Pinot Gris , a 2008 Methode Traditionelle (Chardonnay) and a Free Flow 2008 Pinot Noir. I’ll be tasting and reviewing each wine over the coming weeks and have started off with the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.

The grapes for this came from the Three Peaks (McKenzie’s Pardon) vineyard, west of the Waipara Valley, harvested at optimal ripeness and gently pressed to tank. The juice was allowed to settle for two days before the clear juice was racked off. After inoculating with cultured yeast and fermented at cool temperatures until dry, it was then left on gross lees for 2 months, before racking, fining and filtering.

We took this wine with us to Marlborough as we were visiting friends last week (and a few wineries) so they could have a taste. The savvy is pale but bright in the glass with cut grass / peas / herbaceous notes and passion fruit in the nose (quite different from Marlborough asparagus or Awatere armpit.) On the palate it was succulent and textured with tropical fruits / citrus and fresh acidity providing a zingy finish. A very nice savvy which should improve with a little bit of cellaring perhaps 6-12 months – our friends really liked this wine and I rated it 16.5/20 (82.5/100)

MacKenzie’s Pardon wines are available at Fresh Choice and Super Value stores across the country and from www.mackenziespardon.co.nz and you can  follow them on Facebook too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MacKenzies-Pardon/125502117496853

For more information about Prostate Cancer, awareness support and useful contacts head to www.prostate.org.nz and www.blueseptember.org.nz