Clark Estate River Terrace Sauvignon Blanc (2022)

The Upper Awatere valley is well known for its rugged soils and unforgiving climate, but also the many river terraces that jigsaw their way down the valley. Our river terraces sit amongst the foothills of the Blackbirch range, and the vines grown here are quite different to other terraces along the valley as a result.  Our Riverside Terrace Sauvignon Blanc is a pure expression of our terroir. We have created wines that are unencumbered by the effect of higher alcohol, letting the pristine flavours of the Upper Awatere shine and give these wines a definite sense of place.

Viticulture 

Our main terrace is home for our Sauvignon Blanc vines, which are made up of different blocks depending on the soils beneath. The vines for these wines come from Block 6. The soils in this block are very stoney with little loam and as a result the vines crop much lower yields, therefore ripening flavours much earlier than the sugars can accumulate. Naturally these wines will have lower alcohol but with the full spectrum of intense flavours only the Upper Awatere can give. 

Winemaking 

Harvested in the cool of the evening, the grapes were gently pressed and the juice was fermented under very cool conditions to retain the intensity of the flavours. Once dry, the wine was left on yeast lees to develop even more complex flavours. 

THE PRODUCER –

After long careers as soldier and nurse, Peter & Jane bought a few sheep paddocks by the Black Birch Stream in the Awatere Valley and established 20 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, from scratch. From 1999 to 2002, the early days, they set about learning how to manage a vineyard. To help fund the venture Peter would often be working in Wellington during the week leaving Jane to train the 22,000 new vines on her own. They would work together all weekend spending the night in their old caravan.
In 2003: dark clouds and a silver lining – after two modest harvests the new crop was completely destroyed by a late spring frost with no grape income for another 18 months and more travel for Peter. Facing the reality of the hardship in operating a vineyard they faced the possibility of giving up. However, the story took a different turn and the hope of realizing their dream was renewed. In 2003 their son Simon Clark joined the team after completing his BVO and working vintages in Australia, Germany and New Zealand.
In 2003 they relocated an old villa from Blenheim to the vineyard and achieved Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand accreditation and in 2007 daughter Sarah joined them in the sales and marketing role and her sister Jen also helps with wine dispatch.
In 2008 The Clark Estate/Boreham Wood label was born as they converted their entire crop into their own wine. With 12,000 cases and a global recession they had to get better at selling. By early 2009 the gamble paid off with major new export customers in the USA and Australia and a growth in sales in New Zealand. In 2012 Simon took the reins as head winemaker and they won their first gold medal for their Sauvignon Blanc setting the scene for the years to date with more medal-winning wines.

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