Nose
Wildly fragrant with notes of elder flower, lemon verbena, black currant, gooseberry and passion fruit.
Palate
The palate is fleshy and rich in nectarine, custard apple and lemon curd. A bright acidity with a zingy citrus/mineral edge gives length and crispness to finish.
Growing Conditions
The 2014 vintage from the south west of Western Australia was yet another great vintage. With the typical weather pattern of: sufficient yet below average winter rainfall; a blustery and impulsive spring and a warm, dry summer. Whilst noticeable, the native marri blossom was not enough to sate the resident bird populations and netting of vineyards is now embedded in the annual grape growing cycle.
Margaret River began the growing season with a rain filled soil profile and full catchments. Late spring was cool and windy with damaging north westerlies wreaking havoc on early varieties. The effect on flowering and set in Chardonnay and Shiraz reduced yields notably. Beyond this blustery start, the vintage was uniformly warm to hot with a week of annoyingly intermittent rains in early April to keep us on our toes. By and large, yields were average and thanks to the favourable summer, the wines produced from the 2014 vintage are full of well-defined varietal fruit flavours, bright acidity and supple tannins. The stars of the vintage will be Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
Winemaking
The winemaking of Howard Park Sauvignon Blanc focuses on the contribution of regional fruit expression to build layers of flavour, structure and texture in the wine. Mount Barker provides stone fruit, gooseberry, lime citrus and refined acidity: Margaret River, palate weight and varietal characters of lemon /lime citrus and black currant with perfumed notes of elder flower and sweet herbs. Only the finely structured free run juice is used to make Howard Park Sauvignon Blanc. Most batches are cool fermented in stainless steel to maintain regional character and delicate fruit flavours. Special batches are hand-picked, whole fruit pressed and fermented in oak to add complexity and texture.
Appearance
pale lemon in colour.
