Fairbourne

Fairbourne is a specialist wine with vineyard, regional and varietal expression. It is a pure and expressive style of Sauvignon Blanc that we consider uniquely superior.

The nose is pure and detailed with lime, floral and herbaceous notes. It’s concentrated and focused on the palate showing fine texture and juicy acidity. This is not aggressively flavoured, it’s pristine and exquisitely crafted. Perfect partner to fresh shellfish and elegant seafood dishes.
(Sam Kim – Food & Beverage, April 2011)

Specialist sauvignon blanc producers, Sarah and Russell work hard to produce a top-flight style. From a low-yield regime, the style is minerally, very well spined and with great longevity. Dry and with the riverstone characters that allow the fruit to open slowly and quietly, this is an impressive wine with great finesse.
(Peter Saunders – Hospitality NZ, February 2011)

Very finely textured wine, setting out to be an outstanding sauvignon statement from a specialist winemaker in this variety. It does this perfectly, different to the mainstream; the finesse of a top quality dinner wine, dry, well spined and remarkably elegant for this grape without losing its varietal character. 2009 is youthful but approachable, a long life ahead. $35.00
(Best of the Best Wine Guide 2010 – Hospitality NZ)

Grown on elevated, north-facing slopes in the Wairau Valley, this is a classy wine, tightly structured, with a very fresh, refined bouquet. Weighty, crisp and dry, it has searching, ripe flavours of citrus fruits and limes, showing excellent delicacy and intensity, a minerally streak, and a long, tight finish.

(Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines 2011)
(Michael Cooper – Listener, October 23 – 29 2010)

Simply the best Sauvignon we tasted in 2010. The Cloudy Bay Te Koko, Dog Point Section 94 and the Terravin Te Ahu were excellent in 2009, but for sheer elegant Graves Blanc minerality and texture, the Fairbourne left us quivering. When NZ Sauvignon is good, it’s pretty bloody good. A taste of what the future brings.
(Peter Rumble - The Collective Nod December 2010)

An elegant and textural sauvignon powered by a line of silky citrus and mineral from the newest recruit to The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand, whose members all focus on a single variety or style. $35 (From www.rumbles.co.nz )
(Jo Burzynska – NZ Herald, 5 December 2010)

Sarah Inkersell and Russell Hooper have made many standout examples of Marlborough ‘Savvie’ under various labels over the years. Now, they are devoted to producing the ultimate example of this ubiquitous style. Held back from release to allow it to settle down and develop complexity, this classy white has a bouquet that brings lemon and lime juice to mind, along with a suggestion of melon skin. It’s crisp and dry on the palate, but impressions of ripe mango and passionfruit fill it out through the middle and on the lingering finish. It would be perfect with oysters, ideally freshly shucked and drizzled with just a drop or two of white Balsamic vinegar.
(Vic Williams - WineNZ Magazine, Spring 2010)

"Wine of the moment, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from the esteemed producer Fairbourne; elegant and sophisticated it rivals some of the best known prestige labels. Positively buzzing with citrus, tropical and melon notes, with a dryness and acidity that makes it a superb partner for oysters or smoked salmon."
(Emma Pook - Majestic Wine Online Store Manager )

As reported in WineNZ Autumn 2010 ‘The Specialists’ is a group of wine producers who are united by their decision to each focus on just the one variety in their vineyard and who are determined to operate at the upper ends of the market.

It includes specialists Hay Paddock and Destiny Bay from Waiheke, specialists in Syrah and Bordeaux blends respectively, as well as No1 Family Estate, a producer of Methode Traditionelle, Vinoptima, a Gisborne producer concentrating on Gewurztraminer and Otago’s Wooing Tree that concentrates on Pinot Noir to the exclusion of other varieties. The aim of the group is to co-operate in marketing and promotional opportunities especially in export markets.

So it was a curious omission that the original group contained no Sauvignon Blanc specialist, but as they commented at the time they needed to find a producer that not only focussed solely on Sauvignon Blanc but one that unashamedly aimed at the quality end of the market. That omission has now been solved with Russell Hooper and Sarah Inkersell’s Fairbourne brand now included in the mix.

Russell and Sarah are dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc and blend their wine from two hillside sites in Marlborough that are well exposed to the sun but yet provide the mineral characters in their wines that they see as unique. The hillside restrains vigour naturally and a low cropping regime is followed.

“We know that there is more to Sauvignon Blanc than the widely recognised style,” says Russell. “We’ve deliberately searched for vineyard sites that deliver a unique and definable character.”

At around $28 – 30 theirs is no budget Sauvignon Blanc but the whole point of ‘The Specialist’ group is that New Zealand needs to focus on quality and reflect the potential of our terroir with wines of real individuality.
(Martin Gillian - WineNZ Magazine, Spring 2010)

Outside the mainstream style, the distinctive 2008 vintage was grown at two sites in the Wairau Valley. It’s a mouthfilling, subtle wine with ripe tropical and citrus-fruit flavours, very non-herbaceous and finely textured, slightly ‘funky’ notes, and an uncompromisingly dry, but not austere, finish. Worth discovering.
(Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines 2010)