2022 Nandroya Sauvignon Blanc (Wooded) $30

11/22/2025

John and Joy Rees established Nandroya Vineyard - not far from Sandfly - back in the early 1990s. Their decision to plant Sauvignon Blanc placed them among the early adopters of the variety in southern Tasmania. It was a brave move, given their site's ultra-cool growing conditions. Fortunately, skilful vineyard management - chiefly through meticulous leaf-plucking and crop-thinning - allowed the owners to navigate a safe passage to physiological ripeness during warm seasons.

Vintage 2022 was one of those years. While the overall growing season temperature was close to average, January 2022 was much warmer than usual south of Hobart. Sandfly's mean temperature was 17.5°C, more than two degrees above average. Vineyard yields, meanwhile, were generally lower than average.

About as good as it gets for Sauvignon Blanc in these parts.

Contract winemaker Di Aldous literally handcrafted two wines from the vineyard's 0.75ha plantings of the variety. This wooded version was barrel-fermented. It then spent four months in oak on its yeast lees before being moved into stainless steel. The end result is a nicely layered and textured dry white.

In the glass, this pale, lemon/straw-coloured three-year-old appears an enticing drop. Subtle struck-match aromas are soon overtaken by crushed leaf notes with a bit of aeration. Fresh passionfruit and green pineapple fruit then reveal themselves and drive the palate forward. Oak does a fair bit of the heavy lifting along the journey, but the interplay between winery and vineyard artefacts makes for interesting and indeed very enjoyable drinking. The texture is very satisfying and in no way disturbed by the wine's fine natural acidity.

I'm not hugely fond of Sauvignon Blanc. But this iteration offers the kind of distinctive drinking qualities that would allow it to sit very neatly alongside a dish of smoky pork ribs from the barbeque. John Rees - who sadly passed away in 2023 - would have been most impressed.

Source: Nandroya Vineyard cellar door