Sauvignon Blanc, Barrique, Saint Clair 2021
James Suckling 93; Decanter World Wine Awards 90 points, Silver (2025); Silver, International Wine Challenge 2025
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Why this wine
Marlborough Sauvignon is usually made in steel and sold young. This one is whole-bunch pressed into seasoned barriques, aged nine months on lees and put through malolactic conversion, from three rows of vines picked a week after the rest. It reads far closer to white Bordeaux than to the regional style.
At a glance
- Grape
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Region
- Marlborough, New Zealand
- Alcohol
- 13.00%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Poultry & Pork, Seafood, Rich & Creamy Dishes
How it tastes
Green coffee bean, vanilla pod and maple syrup on the nose, with wild flowers, crushed herbs and a hint of gunflint behind them. The palate is rich and unctuous, layered with ripe papaya, nectarine, cocoa powder and toasted hazelnut; dry, full in weight, with medium acidity holding it together. Sauvignon Blanc 100%.
The producer
Neal and Judy Ibbotson planted their first Marlborough vineyards in 1978 and established Saint Clair Family Estate in 1994; the estate now owns 160 hectares across ten Marlborough sites and holds the Sustainable Wines of New Zealand certification. The fruit for Barrique comes from three rows of vines in one of those vineyards in the lower Wairau, on nutrient-rich, free-draining soils where proximity to the sea gives warm days and cold nights, and it is left to hang a week longer than the fruit for the standard Sauvignon before being picked by hand. Whole bunches were pressed, briefly settled and racked into seasoned French oak barriques, fermented with selected yeasts and aged nine months on lees with twice-weekly stirring, going through spontaneous malolactic conversion; only the best barrels were kept for the final blend. 2021 was a very dry year with cool flowering and late spring frosts that cut the crop sharply, but a warm early March with cold nights ripened what fruit there was.
Food and drinking
Serve at 10–12°C. Good with roast chicken, grilled salmon, dressed crab and a creamy pasta or gratin. Drink over the next five years; a short time in the glass suits it better than a decanter. Sealed with a screwcap. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.