Mahi Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2018
The focus for Mahi with the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is to provide a wine that has texture and depth, rather than focussing solely on primary fruit notes. Brian wants a wine that satisfies across the palate, and as such employs a number of techniques to achieve this. The Marlborough Sauvignon this year comes from seven different vineyards, all of them giving particular attributes to the final wine. The hand-picked fruit was whole-cluster pressed so that the time on skins was minimised. A portion of this juice, 11% this year, was barrel-fermented in older French oak to give greater weight, though ensuring that wood is not evident on the nose. The balance of the wine was fermented cool to retain the fruit characters from the different vineyards. The native ferment portion, 18%, also adds levels of flavour and texture, giving a savoury note that balances some sweeter fruit.
With this eighteenth year of the Mahi Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc one thing in particular has been changed, which is part of Brian's constant endeavour to improve and refine the texture of Mahis' wines. Texture is everything for Brian and with this vintage he has taken it another step further by leaving the wine sitting on ‘lees’ for a longer period, now up to 8 months, which he feels adds another layer of complexity to the wine, giving greater depth of subtleties while still retaining balance.
This wine shows an array of fruit characters, ranging from citrus through to tropical notes. This is complemented by some secondary characters from the natural yeast ferments and also some barrel ageing. The palate has an elegant structure with a creamy, textural mid-palate and a long finish.
Wine File
The Producer Mahi | Marlborough
In 2001, Brian Bicknell and his wife Nicola decided to start a small winery in Marlborough, New Zealand. Brian had been making wine in various parts of the world for fifteen years up until that point, including France, Hungary and Chile, but he wanted...
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The Region Marlborough | New Zealand
When the first Marlborough vines were planted in 1973 few people predicted that the region would become New Zealand's largest and best known wine-growing area in little more than 20 years.The distinctive pungency and zesty fruit flavours of the...
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The Primary Grape Wine By Grape Variety | Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a major white grape variety that is planted widely in Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and the New World, particularly New Zealand. If planted in cool regions on poor soils it has the classic green herbaceous flavours often reminiscent of gooseberries, green peppers,...