Clos Henri, Otira Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Viticulture - In the French tradition, our vineyard is planted in high density to encourage competition between vines and restrain vigour. This natural vigour control means the vines put more energy into the grapes, rather than the canopy - concentrating the berries. Dry farming (using no irrigation) also helps keep vigour under control. By stressing the vines to just the right level, it forces the roots to go deeper in the soil, thereby getting the purest expression of our terroir and showing more minerality from the river stone soil.

Winemaking - Fermentation occurred in 85% stainless steel and 15% old French oak barrels. The wine was then aged on fine yeast lees for 8 months with lees stirring, both of which enable us to obtain a round Sauvignon Blanc with body and mouthfeel.

Nestled under the southern foothills of Marlborough's Wairau Valley, Clos Henri is the wine estate meticulously established and organically run by the famous Sancerre wine growing family of Henri Bourgeois. To discover new terroir and diverse winemaking perspectives, they undertook a lengthy twelve-year world search for a site like their own in Sancerre, where ultra-premium Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir could be grown. After extensive exploration of possible wine regions globally, Marlborough presented itself with perfect soil matches for the varieties here in the Wairau Valley. Combining 10 generations of winegrowing know-how from the Bourgeois family, Clos Henri crafts textural and elegant wines from the three different soil types of the estate, partially comprised of a clay hill slope, the family uses the best of French and New World winegrowing techniques to capture the essence of Marlborough's intense character and reveal the unique identity and depth of the Clos Henri terroir. 'Our ultimate objective is to offer a wine that tells you the story of its origin, whispers he is not French but Marlborough and voices he is a craft from the specific Clos Henri terroir' says Arnaud Bourgeois, General Manager.