Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 Sauvignon Blanc 2021

While you might be familiar with the story of Saint Clair and her extraordinary act of patience at the Vicar's tea party, you might not know that after downing the immortalised glass of perfectly chilled sparkling, the young lady walked away from the table at a peculiar angle of 43 degrees NE to SW, shedding tears of joy. Legend has it these tears were pure Sauvignon Blanc, and as they fell to the soil, fresh young vines sprouted.

While conventional preference is to plant vines North to South, this miracle resulted in a divine wine. The grapes facing south added fresh, greener character; while those facing North blessed the wine with delicious tropical notes.

Saint Clair Family Estate is owned by Neal and Judy Ibbotson, who have been growing grapes in Marlborough since 1978. Having originally supplied grapes to local wineries, the estate produced its first wines in 1994, all of which won awards. They named their winery after a former owner of their farmland, James Sinclair, an energetic Scottish immigrant businessman viewed as the founder of Blenheim. He was also a prime mover in the establishment of Marlborough as a separate province from Nelson.

Saint Clair grows a number of varietals in six different vineyard sites. A grading system was introduced in 2001 to monitor quality levels in each site, and to ensure grapes are planted only where they are suited to the terroir. As a consequence vineyard practices are constantly being revised and updated to ensure the highest quality at all times. A state of the art winery has been built equidistant from each vineyard.