Our estate-grown grapes are hand picked producing an intense, vibrant style of Sauvignon Blanc, loaded with tropical and citrus fruits whilst displaying elegance and persistence. Murdoch Hill stands 512 metres above sea level and is situated in the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills. The vineyard is nestled in the undulating valley at the base of Murdoch Hill near the township of Oakbank.
The Sauvignon Blanc vines are provided with a range of aspects from South, East and Northern, giving a variety of soils and sunlight to aid in the complexity of flavour development. The vines are cane pruned with vertical shoot positioning (VSP), shoot thinning, canopy trimming and bunch thinning when required. This diligent approach to canopy management has attributed to the elegant style of the wine. Predominately sandy loam over medium clay subsoils, with varying levels of ironstone, quartz and schist rock.
The Sauvignon Blanc grapes are hand picked in whole bunches in the early hours of the morning to ensure optimal cool climate conditions before the fruit is crushed chilled and then gently pressed. The juice is cold settled and racked then slow fermented using selective yeast in stainless steel tanks. This method seeks to express all the fine attributes of this wine style. Murdoch Hill should be on your radars by now. Great producer from the Adelaide Hills, toeing a line between expressive and fine winemaking very well.
Here's sauvignon blanc 101 from them. Lots of pretty perfume of the variety - passionfruit, green capsicum, cut grass - and just a hint of spiciness to keep things peppy. Zesty palate rolls juicy and brisk, shows a greener spectrum of the variety, finishes with white pepper and lick of mezcal. Really likeable, and isn't pandering to sweet tooths, instead, showing some more personality potential of the variety.
92 points December 2016 Campbell Mattinson winefront.com