Owned by the Neylon family, Rapaura Springs has an astonishing track record of Trophies and top points for its wines. The family started their farming career with mussels and apples but found vines much more rewarding and since making this move haven’t looked back. Their goal is to enhance the environment around them through sustainable vineyard and winemaking practices that will leave a natural legacy for future generations. Rapaura Springs have a philosophy of minimum intervention, and all vineyards are carefully managed under strict Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand standards. They let Marlborough’s land, climate and water do the hard work, then handcraft superb wines at the state of the art winery, leaving the vineyards to tell their own story, with just a little nudge in the right direction from experienced viticulture and winemaking teams. The result is a selection of focused, terroir-driven Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs with outstanding varietal expression.
Rohe, meaning territory in TeReo Maori, is a range of wines that showcase Marlborough’s sub-regions. Blind River is a small sub-region found in Awatere, Marlborough. Arguably the harshest environment of all the valleys, this area is particularly windy and dry. The station that our vineyard is located on was once named Atacama after this driest desert on Earth in Chile. The climate and terroir develops unique and intensified flavours as the grapevines are naturally restricted.
After harvest, the Blind River Sauvignon Blanc was gently pressed before individual parcels were batch fermented in stainless steel with selected yeast strains to retain the vibrant fruit characters unique to this sub-region. Once fermentation was complete, the wine was racked, stabilised and filtered before bottling.
The 2021 vintage was one of the earliest and shortest on record. The growing season was the third in a series of drought vintages, the stress on the vines was compounded by a huge wind run. The combination of some early frost events and a poor flowering resulted in lower yields and smaller bunches than usual. This, combined with the dry conditions, has meant that disease levels are incredibly low this year, resulting in better flavours and pristine fruit with good concentration.
Intensely aromatic with lemongrass and ripe citrus aromas and concentrated fruit flavour. The palate is weighty with mouth-filling layers of ripe grapefruit, lemongrass and melon. The mouth-watering acidity helps drive a lengthy finish.
Mussels, fresh seafood, the classic fish and chips and Asian cuisine pair wonderfully with Rohe Sauvignon Blanc.
Marlborough, New Zealand
Sauvignon Blanc
Screwcap
13.5%
3.6g/l
6.8g/l
Yes
Yes