Loveblock Tee Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Loveblock Tee Sauvignon Blanc has a pale straw with a hint of green and gold. This wine has lifted aromas of mandarin zest, quince, yellow peach, sweet basil, gooseberry, white pepper and distinct wet stone minerality, with structured herbal notes. The palate is elegant, with juicy mandarin, earthy cumin, sweet basil and ripe yellow star fruit (carambola). Layered and textured, the wine is clean and fresh with flavours of ripe pineapple and a mild tannin note sitting over a layer of umami.

The grapes for this wine came from a small parcel of vines on our certified-organic Woolshed vineyard on the Loveblock Farm, in the Lower Dashwood sub-region of Marborough’s Awatere Valley. The soil type is predominately aged alluvial loams containing some silt loam over stone. Dependent on vigour, the vines are pruned to two or three canes and trained in a normal vertical shoot position. Harvest occurred in the month of March. No sulphur was used in the vineyard. Use of regenerative growth, manure and horn on the vineyard is employed to promote balanced, fertile soil, biodiversity and healthy grape growth in order to produce wine without the use of chemical pesticides, fungicides or additives of any kind.

Here at Loveblock, wines are always made with lower levels of added sulphur, and TEE explores the elimination of added sulphur to wine (the traditional wine preservative). Oenological tannins are commonly used in the winemaking process to perform various functions. The team found that the tannin extracted from green tea leaves (Camelia sinesis) also provides powerful protection against oxidation and spoilage as a natural antioxidant. Every time the juice/wine was exposed to oxygen (i.e. every time it was moved), 5 mg/L of green tea extract (tannin) (Ti Premium® SG produced by Enologica Vason S.p.A.) was added. After machine harvesting in
Marlborough's cool autumn mornings, the grapes were immediately pressed, floated and inoculated with an organic yeast.

How about a Marlborough Red? Check out Satellite Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018.