Heroes Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2025

Drinking this feels like a kiss with a bite. There is spine and longitude. Golden kiwi and starfruit arrive first, fresh and vivid, but Sauvignon’s obvious green aromatics never get to run the show. The wine is more interested in texture. 

That makes sense in the context of James Thomas’s handling. The fruit comes from the original Heroes vineyard, farmed organically, zero-till and completely dry-grown, in a season he described as the warmest and driest he had experienced there. The vines came through it without irrigation, their roots already established deep into the clay and weathered sandstone beneath the sandy clay loam. The Sauvignon was picked on 12 March, whole-bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeasts in French oak and acacia puncheons; James uses acacia sparingly, looking for a waxier, more perfumed contribution rather than another layer of oak flavour. There was no malolactic fermentation and no acidification. 

That waxiness becomes one of the wine’s signatures. It gathers across the mouth alongside chalk, green mango dusted with salt and Nashi pear, then a rocket-leaf bite and a brief grassiness appear before receding. The last glass barely resembles the first. The subtle ester-y notes have retreated, the texture has widened and stone fruit begins surfacing beneath the green fruit: Nashi pear again, a little lemon curd, dry ginger, white tea, more floral lift. None of this comes at the expense of freshness. 

What I like most is that it does not quite reveal itself on first contact. It loosens across the bottle, and on the second day it is still very much alive, drifting back towards you with more perfume and more embrace. You can confidently leave this wine in the fridge over a couple of nights if you are a one-wine-a-day kind of person. It will stay fresh, and more giving. 

Liinaa Berry

Liinaa Berry is a Melbourne-based wine critic and consultant with over a decade of experience as a sommelier and wine buyer across Australia and around the world where she has built award-winning wine programs and championed independent producers with conviction. Now focused on reviewing and writing, Liinaa brings a floor-trained palate and commercial insight to her assessments. She is also the Melbourne Ambassador for Star Wine List and serves on the committee of Sommeliers Australia. An advocate for site-driven wines and thoughtful farming, Liinaa is particularly drawn to producers who articulate a clear sense of place. Her tasting philosophy centres on structure, balance and context — always asking not just how a wine tastes, but why it matters.