“After 10 years living and making biodynamic natural wine in the South-West of France we are back in New Zealand for good and super excited to announce the release of our first wine under our label A Thousand Gods.

It almost seems slightly ironic that our first release happens to be a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough.

I studied the volatile aroma molecules of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc for my Masters thesis in 2004, which was scientifically fascinating, but after 18 months of extracting and analyzing thiols and methoxypyrazines I had had an aromatic overload and was very ready to head off and work with absolutely anything else!

Equally Lauren’s first thoughts after finishing up at Adelaide Uni were to beeline straight to Germany to uncover the mysteries of great riesling from the Mosel and Rheinhessen.

Sauvignon Blanc admittedly was not on our radar for a long long time.

But as is always the case with wine, it takes other peoples’ wines to open your eyes and make you see the possibilities and change your perspectives.

And this is how it was with Sav.

After tasting wines in Europe from Riffault, Bain and Vatan, among others, we were forced to reconsider the variety and see it under a different light. Sauvignon can be fun, fresh and fruity but it can also be elegant, complex and amazingly long-lived depending on how it is made and especially how it is grown.

We feel very lucky to be sourcing our biodynamic Sauvignon grapes from Churton vineyard, one of New Zealand’s best sites for the variety, working very closely with Ben Weaver to choose specific blocks that suit our style of winemaking.”