Vineyard: Holdaway Vineyard
Subregion: Dillons Point
Region: Marlborough 
Vintage: 2023
Soil Type: Young alluvial silts over sand
Clone: Mass selection
Viticulture: Regenerative viticulture and Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ) 
Growers: The Holdaway Family

Appellation Marlborough Wine Certified
Vegan | Vegetarian 

Winemaker's Notes: 

This single vineyard rendition of Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from the Holdaway Family vineyard at Dillons Point – our favourite sub region for the variety. It is a classic expression of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, being 100% tank fermented, but it offers complexity of texture and a mineral drive that summons river stones and sea spray. Blackcurrant, guava and passionfruit are captured alongside the subtlest hint of oyster-shell. This wine is focused and explosive on both nose and palate yet remains elegantly balanced and distinctly salty.

Reviews: 

95 Points - Top Rank "Intense, punchy sauvignon blanc with passionfruit, lime zest, oyster shell, red capsicum and lemongrass flavours. Mouth-watering acidity perfectly balances a hint of sweetness to leave a refreshingly dry finish. Delicious wine." Bob Campbell MW 

93 Points – Excellent "Pungent, intense, fruity, varietal and exacting bouquet of fresh lemon and basil, sage and ripe white flesh fruits, some stone, some tropical. Youthful, vibrant and inviting. On the palate an equally vibrant and refreshing style with salivating acidity, a moment of salinity, flavours of fresh herbs and citrus, white fleshed fruits and tropical moments. Minerality shows as wet river stones and there’s a light floral note on the finish. Well made, saline on the finish and ready to drink from 2024 through 2027+." Cameron Douglas MS

17 Points "Intense passion-fruit aroma – more marked than in previous vintages, which I have found more green-fruited/citrusy, but the intensity of the fruit is tempered by a fresh herbal note and a hint of something more stony/steely even if this is a more fruit-focused than minerality-focused wine. A powerful and harmonious wine that balances depth of fruit with high acidity, both of which make that little bit of residual sugar unnoticeable except perhaps in contributing to the roundness in the mouth. With time in the glass, the herbal aroma starts to catch up with that initial passion-fruit character but the latter dominates the palate. There's a very attractive chalky aftertaste, which the producers suggest is from the site because they find it in the neighbouring vineyard, too. This will probably age longer than I have suggested but the fruit is so vibrant now there is no reason to wait. (JH)" Julia Harding MW | JancisRobinson.com April 2024

92 Points - "The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc Holdaway Vineyard is a precise and poised style. It packs concentration in its core and concludes with a crisp and clear flourish, positively twinkling with clear, pure fruit. While offering varietal characteristics with its passion fruit, blackcurrant, elderflower and grapefruit flavors, it is not an overt, showy or sweaty style, instead focusing on precision, restraint and poised intensity." Rebecca Gibb MW | Vinous April 2024

91 Points "A very refined and crunchy sauvignon blanc with lemon rind, grapefruit and mineral undertones. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. " James Suckling | March 2024

2022 Vintage:

5 Stars ***** "The vigorous, very youthful 2022 vintage (5*) is a single-vineyard wine, grown at Dillons Point, in the lower Wairau Valley, and handled entirely in stainless steel tanks. More subtle than many of the district's wines, it is bright, light lemon/green, with intense, ripe, passionfruit-evoking flavours, a slightly salty streak, and a crisp, dry (2.5 grams/litre of residual sugar), lasting finish. Best drinking mid-2023+." Michael Cooper

94 Points - Excellent "Intense and new with a pungency and purity, aromas of fresh sage and tropical fruits, a wet stone mineral quality with a fresh apple and wild white flowers suggestions. Lush, fresh, salivation and delicious on the palate. Flavours of citrus and fresh herbs, tropical fruits and white fleshed orchard fruits are contrasted by a saline led acidity, a light satin texture and lengthy finish. Great drinking from 2023 through 2029." Cameron Douglas MS 

94 Points "Appealing sauvignon with a weighty, textural palate and intense passionfruit, guava, box hedge, root ginger and saline/oyster shell flavours. Complex wine from the Dillons Point subregion. 15/9/2022" Bob Campbell MW 

92 Points "This cool, coastal single vineyard in the Dillons Point subregion lends a fresh, minerally seabreeze tang to the flavours of guava, red apple and tomato leaf. Complex and moreish, the lip-smacking acidity drives through the textured, bone-dry palate lifted by a herbal, floral perfume that persists through the long finish." Tasted by: Tina Gellie (at Lindley Hall, London, 07 Feb 2023)" Decanter '15 Top Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 under £15' 

16.5 Points "Green-vegy nose with a very light hint of sweatiness. Real breadth of fruit and intricacy. Extremely juicy." Jancis Robinson MW, Feb 2023

16.5 Points "Fragrant citrus along with preserved green fig, sugar snap, just very slightly tropical but also a suggestion of the sea – a salty tang that is more mineral than fruity, perhaps even a hint of jasmine tea. Fuller in the mouth than some (slightly higher alcohol), with a rounded, smooth texture to counterbalance the crisp acidity and a lightly salty finish. Intense without heaviness or excessive fruit sweetness, though there is some of that on the finish. Good length. Passion fruit and guava appear more definitely as it warms in the glass. Nicely dry and with complexity that seems to derive from the vineyard location and the derived saltiness rather than from the straightforward winemaking." Julia Harding MW, Feb 2023

91 Points "The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc Holdaway Vineyard is pared back with good palate weight and texture. It’s a bit funky but that’s okay seeing as there’s a lot of other stuff going on. It has a richness of fruit – generous pineapple, mint and passionfruit, but you’ll find in 2022 that the volume is slightly turned down compared with other recent vintages. Well balanced; this is a cared-for wine with good persistence on the finish.” Vinous - Rebecca Gibb MW, Apr 2023 

2021 Vintage:

95 Points - "Concentrated, flavoursome sauvignon blanc with passionfruit, guava, feijoa and grapefruit characters supported by fruity acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish. A classy wine from a top vintage and low-yielding vines." Bob Campbell MW 01/09/2021 

95 Points 'Top New Release Wines' - "Captivating combination of red grapefruit, cucumber, fresh basil and fennel on the nose leads to an impressive citrus-infused palate, the chalky, saline acidity running right through to a crunchy, bone dry finish. Very impressive indeed." Gourmet Traveller WINE - Jane Skilton MW Oct/Nov 2021

94 Points - #1= New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc "The 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Holdaway Vineyard is a richly aromatic wine that bursts with pure fruit flavors. You can expect a veritable fruit salad of nectarine, lemon meringue, apple and a light note of tropical fruit with a whiff of gooseberry. This is a Sauvignon that delivers power, balance and a tangy, salty finish, making for an appetizing style." Vinous | Rebecca Gibb "Desperately Seeking Sauvignon" March 2022

5 Stars - "Grown at Dillons Point, in the lower Wairau Valley, this finely poised, youthful wine is more subtle than many of the district's sauvignon blancs. Full-bodied, it has vibrant, ripe tropical-fruit flavours to the fore, a herbaceous undercurrent, a slightly salty streak, lively acidity and excellent vigour and depth." Michael Cooper, 'The new season's savvys', The Listener Nov 6 2021

94 Points 'Best Wines of 2021' - "Vibrant and expressive bouquet with aromas of white spices, fresh herbs, citrus, white fleshed stone fruit, some tropical fruit platter suggestions and a saline minerality. Salivating, satin texture gives way to a crunchy acid line texture a core of fruit led by citrus and fresh herbs then a stony mineral salty mouthfeel. An excellent example, balanced, well made and lengthy. Best drinking from 2021 through 2026." Cameron Douglas MS, 05/09/2021

17 Points (#1 NZ Sauvignon Blanc 2021) - "Intense, vibrant aromas of peapod/capsicum and guava, with the complementary sides of Sauvignon nicely matched – both green and zesty as well as more tropical. It is very hard to believe this is tank-fermented because there is just so much texture undergirding the lovely fruit, made more complex by the salty aftertaste that marks wines from this part of Marlborough and by the gentle stony/mineral quality. Bone dry but somehow rich, concentrated but not at all heavy. Mouth-watering in that long finish." Julia Harding MW | JancisRobinson.com 27/01/22

Blank Canvas Sauvignon Blanc 2020

95 Points - #1 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc "A full-bodied Sauvignon that fills the mouth with an array of fresh fruit flavors, from Braeburn apples and lemon to pineapple and green capsicum. There's good substance here, giving you something to get your teeth into while the acidity creates an energy almost like a headlight's full beam turned on in your mouth. Bloody good." Rebecca Gibb MW October 2020, Vinous Media

95 Points “From the well-drained fertile soils of Dillons Point. Rich, concentrated sauvignon blanc with green capsicum, passionfruit, subtle box hedge flavours and a pleasing saline-mineral character. Good purity and mouth-watering, fruity acidity." Bob Campbell MW 1/10/2020

92 Points + Top-Scoring 2020 Sauvignon Blanc "From a single vineyard in the Dillons Point subregion, the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc boasts striking scents of passion fruit married to hints of stone fruit and Ruby Red grapefruit. It's medium to full-bodied with plenty of concentration and presence on the palate followed by a round, easydrinking, and slightly silky-textured."  Joe Czerwinski, Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 23 April 2021. 

View Tasting Notes - 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016

View the 'Holdaway' Vineyard