Wine of the Week! 10/07/24

Barker's Marque
Arona

Normally $17.99 / Now on Sale for $14.96
100% Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough region)

Sail to Te Ika-a-Māui, New Zealand’s north island, and you’ll find Barker’s Marque Winery and their sustainably farmed vineyards sitting just a stone’s throw from the ocean, at the southern tip of the northeast end of the Marlborough wine region. It’s co-owned by super mega-marketing business bro W. Gillett Johnson and winemaker Simon Barker. (His wife, Vanessa, is their viticulturist.) Though they do boast estate grown Riesling, their focus, as you can imagine for Marlborough, is Sauvignon Blanc.

They planted their vineyards in 2004 and 2005 in clay soil that holds water, well-supporting their root stock. Winds from the sea and from the mountains reduce the chance of disease and cool the vines, gifting the Barkers with low yield vines with longer maturation times for their grapes and the ability to practice limited interference in the vineyard.

Just under 70% of the Sauvignon Blanc for this wine comes from two vineyards in the Awatare Valley and one in the Wairau Valley. Its grapes are fermented with a combination of native yeasts and selected yeasts, all in stainless steel.

For this wine, take what you’re used to from New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and set it aside. There’s a plumpness to the Arona’s fruit that is capably balanced with a welcome foundation of acidity, turning what would be a fruity, flabby wine into something bright and refreshing — like a cool breeze coming in from Clifford Bay. We found the Arona so delightful that even our anti-Sauvignon Blanc staff member couldn’t find a bad thing to say about it.