Pale gold color; lemon-lime, guava, grapefruit, melon, white peach, chalky minerality on the nose and palate.
Dry (<1 g/L RS); no tannins; racy acidity (3.22 pH; 6.6 g/L TA). Rich, chewy in the mouth with the impact of extended barrel time on the lees more prominent than the fruit. Grapes grown by Anna and Paddy Trolove at Taihoa Farm, Kēkerengū Coast, Marlborough, New Zealand. The 2020 vintage was very dry—only 1.7 inches of rain during growing season—with early bud break and early harvest. Groundwater and drip irrigation provided good health. Wine fermented with wild yeasts in 500-liter (132-gallon) old oak puncheons previously used to make chardonnay. In Maori language “taihoa” means “to wait” and “to be unhurried.” This wine is worth the wait. 13.5% ABV
This wine is at its best drinking window after six years. Impressive complexity, a feature winemaker Simon Waghorn explicitly pursues, noting he wants his wine to “continue to evolve, increasing in complexity and roundness over several years.” You pay more for this—around twice as much as a standard NZ sauv blanc—but you get a different, more sophisticated wine that drinks more like a white Burgundy than standard New Zealand effort.
Waghorn describes his approach to Taihoa: “When I’m looking to make my most unique sauvignon blanc, I go to the most unique area of Marlborough to do it. This wine is a bit of a sentimental favourite for me. It is an outlier, both geographically and in a winemaking sense, to the typical sauvignon blanc wines of Marlborough; it is all about complexity, texture and age-worthiness.” The Kēkerengū Coast is one of the southernmost Marlborough wine regions.
Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc Taihoa Vineyard, Marlborough 2020 is a serious, age-worthy sauv blanc that has more in common with white Burgundy than standard-issue Marlborough sauv blancs. There is freshness, but it pairs with complexity and structure. Extended time on the lees in old, small barrels gives this depth, richness, and nuance. This is Astrolabe’s flagship sauvignon blanc offering. $45
Pairing—Pacific oysters, oysters Rockefeller, grilled oysters with herb butter; fish pie (béchamel sauce with cod, haddock, halibut), British fish pie with smoked or unsmoked fish, puff pastry; green-lipped mussels with light butter sauce (avoid heavy garlic, instead use white wine reduction, fresh parsley, lemon squeeze); grilled or roasted white fish—sea bass grilled with lemon, olive oil, herbs. Simple, roasted chicken. Thai basil-forward dishes; classic nigiri (salmon, tuna, halifut nigiri). Grilled asparagus, muchroom risotto, steamed artichoke. Avoid heavily creamed dishes. Cheese—Fresh, young chèvre; aged chèvre (Crottin de Chavignol); bloomy-rind goat cheese (Valencay, Selles-sur-Cher); bloomy-rind cow’s milk cheese, brie, camembert; gruyère (aged 18+ months). Avoid blue cheese; heavily washed-rind cheese (époisses, taleggio, reblochonz); high fat cheese (aged manchego, aged pecorino).
