Bec Hardy 1885 Sauvignon Blanc 2025

When a date like 1885 headlines a wine, we immediately trigger to old vine traditional reds, but here we have the totally engaging story of ancestor Sauvignon Blanc, planted in the 1880s in the Lower Tintara district of McLaren Vale to make fortified wine, which was one of our major wine products back then. Long story short: these gnarly old buggers survived the changing of wine drinking patterns and a dreaded industry and government-led vine pull 40 something years ago, and are now believed to be among the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines in the world. The wine is not your everyday, Kiwi-style, punch in the nasals style Savvy, rather it comes with a more complex matrix of aromas, yes tropical notes like lemongrass, yet with an underlying layer of cut hay and field grasses, white rose petal too, all cast in a genteel manner. Not loud. Quietly and calmly does it. As it is in the palate, cast with lemon flesh and chamomile tea flowers, a tingly tang providing a refreshing lift. It’s delicious. Pure. Unadulterated. One of the more fascinating Sauvignon Blanc wines to enter our hemisphere in recent times, and a grand addition to the esteemed lexicon of South Australia’s old-vine heroes.