The 2023 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is sweaty and a little vegetal, with coriander, cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, paw paw and a hint of red cabbage. In the mouth, the wine is piercing, a little sweet (perhaps?) and concentrated in its fruit spectrum. There’s lots going on and plenty of thiols.

The 2022 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is pungently intense in the mouth, but this is driven more by acid than fruit volume, in my opinion. It is electric, green and herbaceous. Certainly racy. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2020 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc offers a healthy mouthful of tropical fruit, with subtle herbal accents. Passion fruit leads the way, but there are riper notes of mango as well, and hints of snow peas linger in the background. Medium to full-bodied, it's rounder and richer than many Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, yet it retains a strong regional identity and ample length on the finish.

The tropical-scented 2019 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc clearly shows the differences between this, the main valley in Marlborough, and the overtly green Awatere character found in the Clifford Bay Reserve. This is all passion fruit and guava, a medium to full-bodied wine that offers a ripe, round feel in the mouth, no hard edges, and a long, luxurious finish.

Drawn from the Omaka and Waihopai Valleys, the 2018 Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is a ripe, tropical wine, loaded with notes of guava, fig and melon. It's medium to full-bodied and plump, with a creamy, lush mouthfeel that's frankly luscious, and tropical fruit that lingers elegantly on the finish.