Ibbotson Family Vineyard

Ibbotson Family Vineyard carries the name of Neal and Judy Ibbotson, who planted their first vines in Marlborough in 1978 when the region had barely a handful of growers and no reputation at all.

For sixteen years they sold their fruit to others before founding Saint Clair Family Estate in 1994, and their early plantings are now among the oldest Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand. Age matters with vines: older plantings root deeper, crop less and produce smaller berries with greater concentration, which is why original blocks are so highly prized in a region only fifty years into its history.

These wines come from those family holdings in the Wairau valley, made in the classic Marlborough register of tropical fruit and herbal cut for the Sauvignon, and a lighter, savoury style for the Pinot Noir.