Zephyr Wines, Chardonnay, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2019

Producer Profile

Ben Glover, of Wither Hills fame, is now focusing on matters closer to home and has taken charge of his family winery, Zephyr. Referring to himself humbly as the janitor, Ben creates wines from their own vineyards in the renowned Marlborough sub-region of Dillon's Point. The whites especially deserve to be compared with other world class whites rather than merely the best of Marlborough. No more so than with the MKIII Sauvignon Blanc, that is a star in any line up. Taken from the Rabbit Island block that, thanks to its East/West planting, captures both wonderful aromatics and lush tropical notes in its grapes. Once pressed, the juice ferments in barrels to produce a complex, waxy Graves lookalike, albeit at a rather more accessible price point.

Viticulture

The Glover family vineyards, planted in 1985 alongside the meandering Opawa River, have inspired the family’s passion for wine. The vineyard is now very much an aromatic specialist with Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Riesling. The viticultural and winemaking philosophy embraces the structural strengths of the vineyard. The wines show classic cool climate precision matched with palate depth and the ability to support texture. Winemaker Ben Glover says "I have always wanted to express the exquisite refined bouquet, the precise structure and the 'line' of these aromatic wines from our farm. Zephyr allows me to do this - winegrowing is a natural expression and extension of what our family and I have done on this property for years and the opportunity to pay them back with home grown, world class wines is too good to be true," says Ben.

Winemaking

Hand picked and whole bunch pressed into tank, left for 4 hrs then filled into a mixture of new and old french barriques and pouncheons, left to ferment on its own and looking for very little malolactic impact, the wine was left alone until Spring when it was tasted and sulphured and stirred.

Oak Ageing

10 Months

Tasting Note

A bright green straw colour, with spice, citrus, lemon on the nose. Lovely texture, with spicy oak and lovely flinty citrus notes on the palate.

Food Matching

Crayfish Bisque