Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc 2018 - Late Release

Reviews

Oz Clarke: 97/100. Putting New Zealand’s most astute vineyard expert together with one of the country’s best winemakers was always going to work. And so it has proved. Since 2004 Dog Point have released a cavalcade of enticing wines, sometimes re-defining what was possible in Marlborough. Section 94 is such a wine. Not many people make a success of this barrel-fermented and -aged style, but in the tricky 2018 vintage this is a triumph. Intriguing pink apple and grainy peach skin fruit seems to be sprinkled with summer country meadow dust, and wrapped in a bone-dry fudge of toasted hazelnuts, crips black chocolate and Kenya coffee beans. Super winemaking from one of New Zealand’s greats.

Decanter: 96/100. Roger Jones: The nose tells you everything – delicate perfume with crisp white stone fruit, delicate herbaceous notes, clean precise citrus. Classic. Freddy Bulmer: Fairly mellow nose showing some nice development, though still a fresh and vibrant wine. Creamy and smart, lovely texture, good palate weight, delicious sweet spices. Cat Lomax: Hazelnut, savoury toast, hints of spice with a little struck match. Punch, depth, rounded citrus, dried mango, hazelnut. Creamy texture, fresh and lifted. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2034.

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 96/100 (Sept 2023). Intense, oak - matured sauvignon blanc with lemongrass, oyster shell, ginger, spicy oak and nutty yeast lees flavours. Bright, complex and satisfying wine that takes Marlborough sauvignon to a different level.

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100 (Sept. 2023) & Top Wines Tasted 2023.  Fantastic bouquet with a complexity and pungency, a varietal signature of ripe grapefruit and fresh herb, there’s a mineral and smokiness then aromas of peach and cape gooseberry, apple and moments of tropical fruits. On the palate a fine satin texture touches first then flavours of gooseberry and citrus, peach and apple, and a distinctive complexity from barrel fermentation and wild ferment aromas of wild flowers. The backbone of acidity deposits flavours and mineral throughout the palate as well as mouthfeel and youthful tension. Well made, complex and lengthy. In short a delicious wine and excellent SB expression. Best drinking from day of purchase through 2028+.

MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator: 94/100 (Dez. 2020). Fragrant, intense and succulent, with distinctive honeysuckle, chamomile, spicy marmalade and ripe peach flavors on a fleshy frame, showing a touch of lanolin. Notes of mango, mineral and candied ginger emerge on the finish.

Fallstaff in "Weißweine: die besten der Welt": Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc der Welt. 

VINOUS - Rebecca Gibb MW: 94/100. The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Section 94 is starting to come into its own, displaying its concentration and structure. It's a sophisticated, serious style that doesn't speak of Sauvignon Blanc’s natural thiols but more of restrained fruit, winemaking-derived flavors and bottle age, creating complexity. You can expect subtle nectarine flavors, almond and lanolin development. It is focused, compact, structured and intense, like a dart that works its way through the wine's core. The 2018 is rather different from previous vintages with less reduction, but also the move to hold back the wine for 6-7 years (the goal for this cuvée going forward), has allowed it to develop and marry. It feels like Section 94's promise is finally materializing.

Michael Cooper: 5 stars. This ranks among the country’s greatest oak-aged Sauvignon Blancs. It is mouthfilling, with deep, ripe, tropical fruit flavours, gentle biscuity notes, balanced acidity, and a long, dry, savoury finish.

Tasting Note

Pale straw in colour. Warm and ripe fruit spectrum of citrus, mango and white peach with complex barrel fermentation characters of toast, biscuits and smoky, flinty, reductive characters typical of Section 94. On the palate creamy and round upfront with a crisp and focussed finish.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Wine type: White wine

Grape varial: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Alcohol: 14.5% vol

Food match:  Match with herb-marinated poultry and pork dishes. Fish (especially salmon), poultry, vegetable dishes and soft white cheeses.

Vineyard: Section 94 - Marlborough home vineyard, Marlborough, New Zealand. The vineyard was planted in 1992 on silty clay soils.

Winemaking: A fuller bodied, textural style of Sauvignon Blanc. Hand-picked and gently pressed to tank for 24 hours of settling prior to eighteen months fermentation and aging in older French Oak barrels. 100% natural ferment. Bottled without fining and only minimal filtration.

The name Section 94: Section 94 is the survey title given by the early settlers when the land was first divided up for sale.

Wine style: dry

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulfites

Cellaring potential: 2028+

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: Dog Point Vineyards Ltd, PO Box 52, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany

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