2005 Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc

[Skeeter]

Pretty up and down. Most areas will be WAY down on quantity, but hopefully up on quality of the surviving fruit.

Martinborough/Wairarapa got drenched... 8 inches of rain in 24 hours right before harvest. Probably going to be an awful year there, sprinkled with tiny runs of good-quality stuff.

Marlborough looks a lot more promising. Not as big a harvest as '04, but the fruit should be excellent. Hawkes Bay is a wait-and-see year... but most places seem optimistic.

Waiheke Island is claiming '05 as their best vinbtage ever. But as they tend to sell for 50-150 bucks a bottle, I might not be tasting that many of their offerings.

For the rest of the country it' it's mainly "smaller yields with good fruit" in general.

Still, so long as the Marlbourough savvies come out well, our Export market will be happy.