The Darling Sauvignon Blanc 2024

The Darling Sauvignon Blanc is the flagship white from organic winegrowers Chris Darling and Bart Arnst, offering a more layered and textural take on Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Certified-organic fruit from the Wairau Valley is handled in several small parcels, including a portion fermented naturally in barrel, giving the wine greater weight and complexity than a simple, sharply aromatic style. Vibrant but substantial, the 2024 vintage is equally suited to relaxed drinking or the dinner table. Pair it with seafood, white meats, goat's cheese or fresh summer salads.

What the winery says:

Intense citrus and tropical fruit aromas are lifted by a distinctive flinty note. The flavours carry through to a textured, weighty palate with refreshing acidity and a long citrus-led finish. Fruit comes from certified-organic vineyards in Marlborough's Wairau Valley and is divided into separate parcels for fermentation. Approximately 10% is wild fermented in barrel to build body and texture, while extended contact with the yeast lees adds flavour, softness and complexity.

What the experts say:

Halliday Wine Companion, 95/100 (2024 Vintage)

Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast, 91/100 (2024 Vintage)
"Like the smell of just-sliced passionfruit, with scrubby dried herbs sprinkled on top, alongside some flinty reductive notes, this is a dry, crisp little number with a lemon-lime finish from a longstanding organic winegrower."