Letter from Greywacke

Long before the trip to ‘Fascinating New Zealand’ we had come in contact with all the wine-producers so as to learn more about them and to present it all on the evening of our “trip”.

To our great delight and honour we received a reply to our mail from Kimbeley Judd -wife of Kevin Judd- from Graywacke winery. We were overjoyed with her response, albeit belated, as it came after the event because it was the grape harvest season and they had been working feverishly!

We quote the actual text of our dear Mrs Kimbeley Judd, so that nothing may be lost in the translation:

“We make 2 Sauvignon’s – the classic Marlborough style – Sauvignon Blanc – and the left field Wild Sauvignon which you have selected for your tasting.

The tasting note attached gives you a good description of the wine making; the alternative ‘natural’ wine making process that this wine has undergone and the use of old French barriques as fermentation vessels produces a wine that is an ‘evolved’ wine at bottling; as a result the Wild Sauvignon will age more gracefully and a lot slower than the mainstream style.

The pre fermentation period is responsible for the more savoury; often described as ‘herbal’ …thyme, dill, fennel……..flavours in this wine which combined with the textural smoothness from the malolactic fermentation make for a wine that stands well outside the mainstream of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

With regards to food pairing, this wine is incredibly food friendly and will pair well with seafood, lighter meats and will hold up to fuller flavoured sauces, some of the pairings we have put together:

PAN ROASTED DUCK BREAST, FRESH FIGS, PORT REDUCTION, WHITE BALSAMIC AND GARDEN HERBS

BLACK RISOTTO WITH PARMESAN, ASPARAGUS AND PINENUT

CRAYFISH BISQUE WITH FRESH WATERCRESS

PAN FRIED SNAPPER ON DU PUY LENTILS FINISHED WITH PETITE BOUCHE HERB SALAD

SEARED LOIN OF ‘CERVENA’ VENISON AND VENISON PIE, KUMARA AND SILVER BEET”