Ben Morven Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Technical Data
Harvest Dates: 2 April, 5 April, 7 April 2009
Brix at Harvest: 22.8, 23.4, 24.3
Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar 2.3 grams/litre
TA: 8.3 grams/litre
pH: 3.33

Decanter, Christelle Guibert, March 2010
River Farm, Ben Morven Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2009 4 stars 
"Very lifted nose with herbaceous and lime characters. The palate is fresh and elegant with some herbaceous notes, fresh apple and lime characters and a nice complexity on the finish."

Viticulture & Vinification
The premium fruit for our Ben Morven Sauvignon Blanc comes off two vineyards on the southern side of the Wairau Valley. Our Ben Morven Road site with its older soils and low rainfall provides the generous, ripe characters of the wine while our Saint Maur site delivers the mouth-filling fruit flavours and lush texture. Both parcels of fruit are vinified seperately and the judiciously blended, the Ben Morven fruit being fermented in tank to retain the fresh, bright flavours while the Saint Maur grapes were wild yeast, barrel fermented for extra weight and complexity in the final wine.

Description
Our 2009 Ben Morven is showing great promise and is already drinking very well. It will also continue to develop in the bottle over the next year. Very high quality fruit from low cropping vines picked at optimum ripeness has created a special and generous wine. The nose is inviting with tropical aromas and underlying herbaceousness and citrus, the colour is warm and bright. The wine palate weight, texture and complexity leads to a lingering, moreish finish.

Consultant Winemaker
Brian Bicknell