Praise for Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008 in Decanter - May 2010 issue

Rosemary George MW, Regional Chair for NZ at the Decanter Worl Wine Awards - writes in May 2010 about Clos Henri in an article about Marborough wines:

"At Clos Henri, developed by Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume producer Henri Bourgeois, you can sense the European background. So far Bourgeois is the only grower from the Loire to extend his horizons as far as New Zealand. A young Frenchman, Damien Yvon, makes the wine here. Bourgeois spent 10 years looking for a site in Marlborough, after rejecting possibilities elsewhere in New Zealand. As you'd expect from a French grower, he took the issue of terroir seriously, carrying out soil profiles to find something similar to Sancerre. Eventually he chose a 110Ha plot , with three different soils - two clay and one stony. Yvon took me up to a spot above the vineyards, and pointed out the fault line that runs through the middle of them, dividing the stone and clay soils. Vines are planted n narrow rows, minimal irrigation is used and grass is allowed to grow between the vines, to retain a level of stress. Above all, they are looking for minerality.
'The Bourgeois family is not keen on varietal character', observed Yvon, who is adamant that Sauvignon Blanc must be tamed. 'You must control the vigour, and pick when everything is ripe, to avoid greenness.' [...] Yvon strives for purity and finess, and skin contact can result in coarse tannins."

"Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2008: 4 stars (17)
Discreet and mineral, with a firm, stony nose, and a hint of oak that fills out the palate, giving a rounded finish. Lovely minerality: textured and elegant mouthfeel. Now-2011."

You can find our wines in London in top end gastronomy restaurants and in Boutique wine shops such as:
- Wimbledon Wine Cellars Chiswick / Imperial Wharf / Wimbledon
- Handford's
- City Beverage
...

Bel Echo Sauvignon 2008 - 93 pts by MW Bob Campbell

"Rich, creamy Sauvignon Blanc with gooseberry, mineral, capsicum and bready yeast lees flavours. Quite complex wine with a great texture and lingering finish. One of the best of the vintage." Tasted by MW Bob Campbell in March 09.

Listening to our terroir...

We were recently talking with few other producers in the Marlborough region, and they were quite surprised to hear that by the end of the week all our pinot noir would be harvested, and half of the sauvignon blanc as well.

We might have started earlier than the majority, but for one simple reason: the fruits were ripe and showing good phenolic, analytic and aromatic balance.
To decide of our date of harvest for each block, we use a mix of berry analysis to reveal sugar, acidity, pH levels; and tastings. Tastings of the juice from the berries that we crush, but also by going in each block in different rows to taste berries and check on aromas and phenolic ripeness.

From the grapes already harvested, here are few analysis that will give you an idea of the balance we get. Also this shows it was the right decision for us to start harvest slightly earlier than most wineries in Marlborough.
But obviously it was a good decision in our vineyard, which is ran quite differently than the average Marlborough vineyard (twice higher density, guyot or guyot double pruning, controlled irrigation etc.). This is another example illustrating the combination of each vineyard, each block, each soil types, each microclimate, leads to a different working approach and different needs - doesn't this remind you of this notion of sense of place or terroir we are so attached too?

Our sauvignons blancs sit at the followings:
pH: 3.15
Tartric acidity: 8.2 g/l
Sugar: 220 g/l = 13.3 %vol potential = 24 brix

Our pinots noirs sit at the followings:
pH: 3.4
Tartric acidity: 6.0 g/l
Sugar: 240 g/l - 13.5%vol potential = 24.5 brix

We are now thinking of finishing harvest by the end of next week, with the last of the sauvignon blanc grown on the riverbed soil and all the sauvignons blancs growing on the clay.

Some sauvignon on the riverbed soils harvested - La Chapelle block

Harvest of La Chapelle block, situated just at the foot of the church Ste Solange.

This old church of almost a century has been moved 5 years ago from a nearby village called Ward, to become our tasting room. Nowadays enchanting our visitors who can enjoy either a tasting, french delicatessen products, or a glass of wine and french cheese platter etc. outside. This piece of local history has found a new story to build at Clos Henri.

Harvest under the nets. Nets are installed over 4 to 5 rows at a time in order to protect the grapes from being eaten by voracious birds, which would without a second thought take care of harvesting the whole fruit for us - but without making wine!