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Zephyr Wines, New Zealand

Ben Glover, of Wither Hills fame, is now focusing on matters closer to home and has taken charge of his family winery, Zephyr.

Referring to himself humbly as the janitor, Ben creates wines from their own vineyards in the renowned Marlborough sub-region of Dillon's Point. The whites especially deserve to be compared with other world class whites rather than merely the best of Marlborough. No more so than with the MKIII Sauvignon Blanc, that is a star in any line up. Taken from the Rabbit Island block that, thanks to its East/West planting, captures both wonderful aromatics and lush tropical notes in its grapes. Once pressed, the juice ferments in barrels to produce a complex, waxy Graves lookalike, albeit at a rather more accessible price point.

Viticulture

The Glover family vineyards, planted in 1985 alongside the meandering Opawa River, have inspired the family’s passion for wine. The vineyard is now very much an aromatic specialist with Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Riesling. The viticultural and winemaking philosophy embraces the structural strengths of the vineyard. The wines show classic cool climate precision matched with palate depth and the ability to support texture. Winemaker Ben Glover says "I have always wanted to express the exquisite refined bouquet, the precise structure and the 'line' of these aromatic wines from our farm. Zephyr allows me to do this - winegrowing is a natural expression and extension of what our family and I have done on this property for years and the opportunity to pay them back with home grown, world class wines is too good to be true," says Ben. Ben is now working towards all the wines having organic certification starting with the 2020 vintage for some of the wines.

Highlights
  • Complex, waxy, almost Graves like whites.
  • Agent.... hand picked...whole bunched fermented Sauvignon left on the skins for 30 days for a beautfully rich orange wine.
  • Fourth generation winemaking.
If I had to choose just one Kiwi Sauvignon at the moment, it would be the harmonious, beautifully balanced, Zephyr Sauvignon Blanc".
Tim Atkin, The Observer.
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