Vavasour (pronounced Vava-SOOR) is the founding winery of Marlborough’s smaller, cooler Awatere Valley. Intimate knowledge of this dramatic southern pocket of Marlborough rewards us with limited production Sauvignon Blancs of extraordinary elegance, perfume and texture.

In 1986, the dramatic Awatere was a distant landscape thought too extreme for vines. Vavasour had the pick of the valley. That risk was rewarded right from the start: intense layers of flavour declared a unique presence that demanded international attention.

Led by acclaimed winemakers who hail from the Awatere and Marlborough, our winemaking captures the extremes and nuances of the Awatere. More than one hundred parcels are picked, crushed and vinified as individuals, giving us a palette of diverse expressions of Awatere terroir to blend. Experimentation with whole bunch ferments, indigenous yeasts, high solids, vineyard orientation and microbial terroir build intrigue from vine to bottle. The result is wines that are unmistakably Awatere: perfumed, textural, palate-led Sauvignon Blancs with creamy, rounded acidity and minerality.