Minimal Intervention Leads to Wine of Provenance Title at 2021 Wine Show

The Coterie Wine of Provenance at the 2021 Marlborough Wine Show was made using fruit from a ‘truly magical’ vineyard in the Awatere Valley.

Awarded to the Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2021, Winemaker Laura-Kate Morgan says she and her team were humbled to receive the trophy.

“We are honoured to have received the Coterie Wine of Provenance Award,” she says.

“The Brancott Estate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc is a wine we are all exceptionally fond of, and believe this award is a testament to our entire team’s focus and commitment to producing exceptional wines.”

Using minimal winemaking intervention, the aim for this wine was to preserve flavours developed in the vineyard.

“Our Triplebank vineyard in the Awatere Valley is truly magical. We have beautifully uniform loess soils with the ability to store water,” Laura-Kate says. 

“Vines are two-cane pruned to maintain fruit quality and concentration [and] we experience early bud burst but with a long fruit development period which delivers some powerfully concentrated fruit.”

The trophy was sponsored by The Coterie, a small batch, premium organic, family owned winery on the Wairau Terraces which provides premium contract winemaking services, working with a wide range of wine styles and varietals.

The Coterie Winemaker Pierre Vienings says their team strives to lift the quality of their work through sustainable and holistic thinking.

“One of the cornerstones of our ethos is ‘tūrangawaewae’, one of the most well-known and powerful Māori concepts. It is often translated as 'a place to stand'. Tūrangawaewae are places where we feel especially empowered and connected. They are our foundation, our place in the world, our home,” Pierre says.

The Coterie Wine of Provenance, awarded to a single vineyard wine of significant pedigree and recognised as an exceptional example of its place of origin, it’s tūrangawaewae, is a fitting award for the company to sponsor, he says.

“We are very proud to be sponsoring this specific trophy, as it is celebrating a wine that has a “sense of place” and origin, that speaks of where it’s from and that is championing Marlborough, and more so, that specific sub-region/vineyard it hails from.”