Dog Point


Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, were, respectively the former chief viticulturalist and head winemaker at Marlborough`s iconic Cloudy Bay vineyard. Sutherland owns some 80 hectares of vineyards in the Waipara Valley which had been planted in the 70`s and 80`s, and so with their wives, jumped into their own venture, Dog Point. From the first vintage in 2002, they have garnered high praise & high points, while not always sticking to everyone elses game plan. Their Section 94, for example is the antithesis of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. For a start, they don`t put Sauvignon Blanc on the label, then there is the aspect of barrel fermentation and maturation. Thirdly, wheras the majority of KSB has a fair whack of residual sugar, this wine is bone dry. The new benchmark? When they visited in late October, their mantra was the individuality of their wines. Unlike the competition, they hand pick; more time consuming and costly, but according to James, this prevents the phenolic bitterness that mars many a rivals` wines. He didn`t say much, James, but I heard that one a few times. They`re pretty passionate about their Pinot clones as well. They reckon that too often it`s made from the stuff that`s meant for Sparkling production, but no good for still wines. Not at Dog Point though. I heard that once or twice as well...

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