Showcasing a Sense of Place

Showcasing a Sense of Place

Four wines in a showcase display at Wine + Food Experience Marlborough are top examples of what careful site selection can achieve. 

A mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, they each picked up at least one trophy at the 2025 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Alongside picking up the QuayConnect Champion Wine of the Show, the Rapaura Springs Bouldevines Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 was crowned Vintech Pacific Champion Chardonnay, Current Vintage, and The Coterie Wine of Provenance, affirming its sense of place.

Rapaura Springs Winemaker Mike Bann says the wine is the result of a culmination of a number of carefully planned factors.

“Great Chardonnay starts simply: the right vineyard, farmed well, picked at the right moment, then guided gently in the winery. Bouldevines is a clear expression of that approach,” he says.

“The wine comes from the Walsh family’s Bouldevines Vineyard on Dog Point Road, where the Omaka and Wairau valleys meet. Planted in 1996, it includes the 2/23 Chardonnay clone, rare in Marlborough at the time. Those mature vines now deliver fruit with real character and consistency. We have worked with this site since 2011, and the 2024 wine shows exactly why we value it so highly.”

The wine is only released when fruit quality justifies its production, and the allocation on display at Wine + Food Experience Marlborough offers the last opportunity to taste the 2024 vintage.

“The 2024 vintage was one of Marlborough’s strongest in the past decade. Bouldevines gives us consistent, high-quality fruit, and our winery team has built a style that delivers year after year. The wine is already on allocation because volumes are limited, but the message is simple: when we release Bouldevines, it is because the quality is there,” Mike says.

Fellow award-winners te Pā Wines have two wines in the display: te Pā Reserve Collection “Auntsfield Vineyard” Chardonnay 2022, and te Pā Reserve Collection “Westhaven” Pinot Noir 2024. The wines received the Vintech Pacific Champion Chardonnay, 2022 & older, and De Sangosse Champion Pinot Noir, Current Vintage (2025-2023), respectively.

Chief Winemaker Sam Bennett says a sense of place is important in all te Pā Wines. “The geographical spread gets smaller as we work our way up the range of wines we make,” he says. “The reserves are all single vineyard expressions, often single blocks, so we get more precision and definition in these wines.”

Marketing Manager Mikela Dennison-Burgess says the company strives to offer a range of choices from quality regional blends to premium single vineyard wines, as both showcase the diversity of the Marlborough region.

“We know that as wine drinkers around the world become more sophisticated, discerning and engaged in their wine choices, they want to know where the wines come from, who’s making them, and to understand the differences between regional blends, sub-regions, and single vineyard expressions,” she says.

Auntsfield fruit, used in the winning Chardonnay, is carefully selected and bottled unfiltered and unfined.

“The Auntsfield fruit is always a pleasure to work with, as it is low cropping, concentrated fruit with a lovely line of acidity. We’re able to take our time with these Reserve wines," Sam says. 

"We select our favourite six barrels for the Reserve and leave them for a longer elevage. They go through full malolactic fermentation, which means after being well settled we can bottle this wine unfiltered and unfined.”

The winning te Pā Reserve Collection “Westhaven” Pinot Noir 2024 was made following a strong El Niño year, resulting in a dry, low cropping season with small berries; well suited to the vineyard.

“The long, slow ripening period accentuated the spice and floral characteristics we tend to get from this site. The small berries gave the wine a ripe, silky, tannin profile,” Sam says.

“Once again we are able to take our time with this wine and we left it for 15 months in barrel, before blending, settling and bottling unfiltered and unfined.”

Isabel Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021 joins the winning wines in this display, after picking up the De Sangosse NZ Champion Pinot Noir 2022 & Older trophy. It was also Champion Wine of the Show in 2023.

The trophy affirms the ageability of Marlborough Pinot Noir, and proves to be the gift that keeps on giving following a stellar 2021 vintage.

Isabel Estate winemaker Nick Lamain says 2021 was the single best vintage for Pinot Noir at the Estate in recent memory.

“There was no doubt  that this wine in its youth was something really special, the 2021 vintage from which it comes held perfect conditions for us,” he says.

“While we knew this wine was special in its prime, we had no idea how it would age, as that vintage was when we started experimenting by introducing more whole bunch and pursuing a more perfumed and vibrant style of Pinot Noir. Safe to say we know now we are on the right path and are making Pinot Noir that expresses beautifully both in its youth and with a bit of bottle age.”

Like te Pā and Rapaura Springs, a sense of place is integral to the team at Isabel Estate.

“The heritage of this vineyard is incredibly rich and so much of the wine's character owes to the vision of the original owners 40 years ago. They recognised the potential of this site with its alluvial soils overlaying a dense clay pan and had the foresight to plant using a high-density Burgundian approach,” Nick says.

“It's not lost on us how lucky we are to have inherited an exceptional vineyard where the old vines continue to give so much quality. Adding to that, all of our Pinot Noir is farmed organically or in conversion. While this presents challenges, we are finding that our older vines now really harness and express the specific terroir with such elegance. Working with such great source material here means our primary goal in winemaking is just to be gentle and ensure that the sense of place that's in those grapes makes it all the way to the finished bottle.”

The ageability of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay continues to be highlighted through Marlborough Wine Show results.

“As winemakers, Jeremy [McKenzie] and I think Marlborough Pinot Noirs may just have the best ageability of all Pinot Noirs from New Zealand,” Nick says.

“I think it largely comes down to that tighter acid structure. Marlborough Pinot Noirs have this incredible ability to hold onto their primary fruit for a remarkable amount of time. Even as they develop those savoury aged characteristics like spice, leather and forest floor. It’s that precise tension with the pure fruit persisting while being supported by those tertiary notes that gives our Marlborough Pinot Noir such great complexity and really allows it to shine as it matures.”

Sam Bennett of te Pā Wines agrees.

“Our experience is that these wines age very well. Our Reserve Pinot Noir and Chardonnay can be a bit shy for the first couple of years, but really come into their own with a bit of bottle age,” he says. “The good examples have bucket loads of fruit and great acidity.” 

All four wines will be displayed at Wine + Food Experience Marlborough through July, August and September. Call in for a taste while stocks last - 2 Alfred Street, Blenheim.