Waitrose No1 Astrolabe Awatere Sauvignon 2021

A wine full of flavours of preserved lemons, herbs and green pepper with vibrant freshness and a lingering lime note on the finish. Perfect with salads.

Free-draining stony, silty loam, with some limestone.

The 2020–2021 growing season was warmer than normal, though cooler than two of the recent very warm years of vintages 2018 and 2019. Little rain fell from December to late March, and water deficit conditions prevailed. Cold and wet Spring flowering conditions resulted in fewer berries per bunch and significantly reduced yields — about 70% of normal. Above average sunshine and heat, coupled with the light crop, gave a record early harvest. The vine canopies survived the arid weather, largely due to the light fruit load, and fungal disease was largely non-existent. Wines from the vintage tend to have good concentration.

Grapes were machine harvested and the clarified juice fermented at a cool temperature in stainless steel. No ageing.

The fruit was machine harvested in cool evening conditions, de-stemmed and lightly pressed with minimal skin contact. Clear, cold-settled juice was fermented in stainless steel vats at low temperatures, using neutral wine yeast strains to allow the powerful fruit flavours to dominate.