Saint Clair Vicars Choice Sauvignon Blanc

You might say that Neal and Judy Ibbotson of Saint Clair Family Estate are kind of pioneers of the Marlborough wine scene. As far back as 1978 they were supplying local wineries with grapes from their vineyard but in 1994 they decided they wanted to put their name on a bottle of wine.

Well, not their name. But someone else’s name. His name was James Sinclair and he was another real pioneer of the area and credited with building the first houses in the Blenheim area. Saint Clair is the name of the original property on the estate.

Saint Clair’s range includes the world class Reserve range and seriously good Pioneer Blocks. The Vicar’s Choice is named after an Anglican-vicar relative of theirs loved nothing more than a bottle of his favourite Saint Clair wine. So much so they decided to name this range after him! It’s what they call their ‘excellent value for money range’ and holy moly, we wouldn’t disagree.

This latest 2024 vintage is one of the best ever under this label – backed by a HUGE Gold medal and 95/100 score at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London! Winning Gold and 95/100 at the DWWA in London is a big deal – from over 18,000 wines entered a mere 4% of wines won Gold. This was one of them and joined just 23 other Kiwi wines to win Gold at the DWWA!

Serve it chilled and pair with fresh kai moana or a portion of good old Kiwi fush ‘n’ chups.