Greywacke Event - July 2018

There is no better way to really appreciate and understand a wine than to enjoy it in the company of the winemaker who made it, and when that winemaker is Kevin Judd, the man who did more than any other to firmly put Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on the map, the opportunity is one certainly not to be missed.

The venue was the beautifully intimate Mr G’s dining room at Milsoms’, nestled in the heart of East Anglia’s Constable country. Once again in our seemingly endless summer, the sun was shining brightly, and to accompany it, here were seven wines, five whites, one red and one sweet that were all just perfect for our small group of oenophiles to get to the very heart of the Greywacke, Kevin’s own label, philosophy.

I’d been a fan of the Greywacke wines since I’d first joined the wine industry back in 2011, his luscious opulent and tropical Pinot Gris always being my personal favourite, but as is often the case on occasions like this, my favour was to swing wildly throughout the evening from the zippy, intense tangy Riesling to the beautifully rounded Chardonnay that, for some reason, had always managed to pass me by.

In the end, although the Pinot Gris was as wonderful as ever, like a number of the other guests that night I was simply blown away by the character and elegance of the 2015 Wild Sauvignon, a wine that, according to Kevin, truly represents the quintessential character and potential of Marlborough Sauvignon. Minimum intervention, wild yeast and a long, long fermentation has evolved this varietal into exactly the kind of wine ‘IT’ wants to be, this is not a fruit bomb… it is a timeless classic. While the wines all enthralled that night, it was the honesty with which Kevin spoke about the highs and lows of his life in wine that really won the guests over, what he likes and what he doesn’t like, what’s next and how, despite not being personally that keen on the style, he might just give a new sparkling a go, thus bowing to the wishes of his wife Kimberley... Watch this space!

by Robin James - Sales, Mr.Wheeler

VIEW THE GREYWACKE RANGE & SPECIAL OFFER