Saint Clair Pioneer's Block

This week we feature utterly delicious Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs at terrific prices from New Zealand’s Saint Clair Family Estates.

Saint Clair wines are consistently among the most popular wines on our website – and little wonder. Saint Clair is New Zealand’s most awarded winery and in the last year alone they have won

• New World Wine Producer of the Year – UK Sommelier Awards 2012
• New Zealand Wine Company of the Year 2011 – Winestate Magazine (Australia’s leading wine magazine)
• Best of Nation Trophy – 2012 San Fransisco International Wine Awards (the trophy is awarded to the winery which wins the most gold medals)

Neal and Judy Ibbotson, owners of Saint Clair, are pioneering viticulturists in Marlborough with over 30 years experience and extensive viticultural knowledge of the region. Over time Neal, along with winemaker Matt Thomson, has experimented, gained knowledge and identified a number of special Marlborough sites which provide the ideal terroir to produce small parcel quality wines for the Pioneer Block range.

These wines, first launched in late 2005, are assisting in the understanding and knowledge of the best sites for each variety and have helped Saint Clair identify a new area for Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough which consistently delivers gold medal quality wine. They have also proved that for Sauvignon Blanc, the yield-quality relationship is soil and vigour related, with vine stress being extremely detrimental to quality, hence dispelling some earlier myths.

Pioneer Block wines are made from outstanding small parcels of fruit identified by Saint Clair’s winemakers from selected specialist vineyard sites with unique terroir in the Marlborough region. Each year every batch of Saint Clair wine is evaluated and scored for quality. The highest scoring wines make it into Saint Clair’s Reserve or Pioneer Block range with each vineyard having a separate identifying vineyard/block number which shows on the label. If the Pioneer Block quality is not of the highest standard, that wine (specific block number) is not produced from that vintage.

Each wine has subtle style differences and individual elements that develop as a result of its unique style. Pioneer Block wines are normally single vineyard wines, although blending may occur if knowledge can be gained, or a higher quality wine can be produced as a result.