The beautiful and mysterious Paper Nautilus is rarely seen in the open ocean but occasionally washes up on secluded beaches around the Marlborough Sounds. With its paper-like shells, its delicate geometry and feather-weight texture, this distant cousin of the Nautilus in our logo has become the inspiration for a new direction of Sauvignon Blanc winemaking for the Nautilus team.
30 years’ experience has led us to prefer palate weight, texture and length in Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc over brazen aromatic fruitiness. The Paper Nautilus takes this approach one step further. The wine is produced as a single, small-batch parcel using innovative viticulture and winemaking. Fruit is sourced from our Renwick Vineyard, the oldest we own, and located in the heart of Marlborough’s Wairau Valley.
Hand-picked grapes from this evocative site were fermented on its lees at a warmer temperature than usual in a large old oak cuve. The resulting wine has more subtle fruit and greater textural qualities than the classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc style.
Only 300 cases were produced and it is a hard to get hold of wine. Rated by Bob Campbell MW as “Intense and predictably textural sauvignon blanc with wet stone, mineral, struck flint, capsicum and gooseberry flavours. Bone-dry wine with assertive acidity. A stylish sauvignon.”
