Bart Hopkins of 67Wine.com | Dog Point Vineyard is the largest certified organic wine estate in New Zealand. This Sauvignon Blanc is bright and delicious, with fresh lively flavors in a refreshing, easy sipping style. In the glass, key lime, granny smith apple, kiwi and white peach flavors grace the palate playfully with perfectly balanced acidity offering lift and a pleasant zip to the finish. Crisp and very pleasant, perfect for seafood and salads.
Rebecca Gibb MW writes: Initially the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc needs a few moments to get itself together – much like we all do after waking up from our slumber. It wears a rather reductive overcoat, but under that flintiness you find concentrated, pure fruit flavors. It’s light in body but dense in concentration thanks to low yields, displaying both focus and punch. It's almost silvery in color and restrained thanks to hand-picking, leading to pure grapefruit and passion fruit flavors alongside a hint of nectarine. The finish is long, precise and sinewy. Drinking 2024 - 2028. - Vinous 93
James Suckling writes: Clean and crisp with grapefruit, green melon and lemon character. Hints of stones. Medium body. Lovely acidity and a delicious finish. Some phenolic tension here. From organically grown grapes. Drink now. Screw cap. - James Suckling 92
Jancis Robinson writes: From the tricky, cloudy, cyclone-affected vintage 2023 when I was in New Zealand. Sourced from eight of their own vineyards with the Wairau Valley. Smoky, green-veg nose. Just a little less exuberantly fruity than some other vintages. The wine finishes a little more suddenly than I would have expected but it's a creditable effort in a challenging year.
Winemaker Notes
Pale straw. Pure and bright perfume with aromatics of grapefruit and white peach. Subtle smoke and gravelly tones layered over this create a complexity beyond the immediate fruit profile. Juicy, plush, white fleshed fruit pour across the palate with a refreshing and defined acidity balancing the sunny fruit profile, finishing clean and dry. Drinks beautifully now or can comfortably be cellared for five years or more.
Our Professional Notes
Dog Point Vineyard is the largest certified organic wine estate in New Zealand. This Sauvignon Blanc is bright and delicious, with fresh lively flavors in a refreshing, easy sipping style. In the glass, key lime, granny smith apple, kiwi and white peach flavors grace the palate playfully with perfectly balanced acidity offering lift and a pleasant zip to the finish. Crisp and very pleasant, perfect for seafood and salads.
Bart Hopkins
Critics Notes
Rebecca Gibb MW writes: Tasted in a line-up of dozens of Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, the 2022 Dog Point stood out for all the right reasons. It is elegant with appealing ripe nectarine fruit followed up with bright but balanced acidity. It offers delightful texture, making an attractive light-bodied wine with some appealing succulence through the mid-palate, potentially due to lower yields. A triumph in a difficult year, showing rigorous selection. - Vinous 92
James Suckling writes: Nettles, thyme, green apples and grapefruit on the nose. Medium-bodied, sharp and clean cut with a refreshing core of citrus and green fruit. Vivid. From organically grown grapes. Drink now. Screw cap. - James Suckling 93
MaryAnn Worobiec writes: A focused, precise expression of Sauvignon Blanc, with makrut lime leaf aromatics, notes of fresh lemon sorbet and a touch of fresh ginger. Ends with plenty of lime zest details on the mouthwatering finish, where a note of orange blossom lingers. - Wine Spectator 92
Jancis Robinson writes: Powerful green-fruit aroma with some struck match. Admirably ripe but tense fruit on the palate – well counterbalanced by acidity. Very bright and energetic with no shortage of interest and nuance on the mid palate. Seriously good wine by any measure. 90% Southern Valleys fruit plus a small block beside Cloudy Bay in Rapaura. Traditionally it's all hand-picked by 80–100 pickers but in 2022, because of a mass COVID infection, they decided to machine pick 'and sold some good fruit on the vine', according to owner Matt Sutherland. 'We go for a more restrained style with whole-bunch pressing.’ 45% indigenous-yeast ferment, now especially the first blocks to be picked. Sits on lees for four months. The solids promote reduction. ‘We don't shy away from reduction.' This was the first year they used enzymes. RS 2 g/l. - Jancis Robinson 17.5
Producer Notes
Dog Point Vineyard is the largest certified organic wine estate in New Zealand. This Sauvignon Blanc is bright and delicious, with fresh lively flavors in a refreshing, easy sipping style. In the glass, key lime, granny smith apple, kiwi and white peach flavors grace the palate playfully with perfectly balanced acidity offering lift and a pleasant zip to the finish. Crisp and very pleasant, perfect for seafood and salads.
Bart Hopkins
