06-Oct-2017
The Dog Point label of the Sutherland and Healy families is one of the most exciting, spearheading the development of the more complex, alternative styles of Sauvignon Blanc, contemporary funky Chardonnay and rich, characterful Pinot Noir. I’ve attended vertical tastings of the wines from the first releases (click here to see), and can’t help but be impressed by the drive of Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, their families and team in making distinctive, high quality and complex wines. The basis of the wines is the fruit source of mature vineyards of proven ability, these mainly in the Southern Valleys sub-region, under the expert eye of Ivan. But it is the ‘on the edge’ winemaking by James that takes the wines to their unique style and place. Ivan and James concur that they only make wines they like to drink. Clearly their tastes are adventurous and explore where Marlborough can go in creating more sophisticated wines. Here, I review the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, from a cool growing season, but low-cropped for earlier ripeness, and the 2015 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, from a small yielding vintage, giving concentrated wines. www.dogpoint.co.nz
