Stoneleigh - Marlborough - Sauvignon Blanc - 2023

$18.99

Stoneleigh grows on stone-studded ground in Marlborough's Wairau Valley, vineyards covered with ancient sunstones. Fruit for this bottling leans on Rapaura, a sub-region prized for how early it ripens. The house philosophy is minimum intervention in the winery, so what lands in the glass is the fruit and not much else. Thirteen percent, essentially dry. Sunset gave the 2023 a double gold.

Cut grass, grapefruit and sweet basil on the nose. Tangerine blossom, star fruit and honeyed yellow apple across the palate, lifted by keen acidity over a mineral base. Long, mouth-watering finish.

Classic matches for Sauvignon Blanc: Goat cheese, oysters, green salads, anything with fresh herbs.

The vineyards run through Marlborough's Wairau Valley on ground thick with old river stones. Rapaura is the sub-region that matters here, valued for how early the fruit ripens. Winemaking is deliberately hands-off.