Dog Point: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc With ‘a Quieter Voice’

We remember when New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was new and exciting. It was vibrant and pure. Drinking it was like ringing a bell. In time, too many became predictable and boring. They became paint-by-numbers wines — pleasant enough, but they could have been created in an AI lab if AI could create wine (hmmmm). But a few weeks ago, we went to a portfolio tasting of Vintus New York, an offshoot of the 20-year-old importer and wholesaler of wines from family-owned, conscientiously operated wineries from around the world. There were hundreds of wines, so we split up, as usual. At some point, Dottie came over, grabbed John and said, “You have to taste this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.” John was skeptical, but, hey, we’ve been married 50 years so off he went.

She led him to two men, Matt Sutherland and Jak Nash, from a winery in Marlborough called Dog Point Vineyard and they were just about vibrating with excitement as they poured their Sauvignon Blanc. Rightly so. It was clear from the nose, which had a sensuous smokiness, that this was a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc of a different order, with more complexity, more stuff, more depth. Even with a sniff, sip, swirl and spit, this single taste was both fetching and satisfying. We then tasted the winery’s special 2021 Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc, from a single vineyard, which was fermented and aged in older oak barrels and it was even more elegant and beautiful, with a minerality that transported us to a maritime place. They then poured us a 2011 Section 94 and it was profound, with perfect-pitch acidity. Each was notable for its lack of the grassy, herbaceous quality from flavor and aroma compounds like thiols and methoxypyrazines that mark many Sauvignon Blancs globally. The smokiness, we guessed, was likely from reduction and the textures were rich and the finishes luxuriously languid.

(Matt Sutherland, Dog Point's general manager, Dottie, and Jak Nash, the winery's global ambassador)

They said all of their wines -- they also make a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir -- are certified organic and only the regular Sauvignon Blanc is even partially fined, an outlier in the no-fining lineup. The grapes are hand-harvested and they use indigenous yeast in all of the wines except a portion of the regular Sauvignon Blanc. We were so impressed that, when we got home, we ordered some from local stores. We bought the regular 2023 Sauvignon Blanc for $24.99 at one store and $18.98 at another. The 2021 Section 94 was $38.48. They were just as good when we had them at home, especially with food. Among our notes: “clarity with complexity” and “quietly confident.”

Ivan and Margaret Sutherland bought 52 acres on Dog Point Road in Marlborough in the late 1970s and started planting vineyards. For years, they sold their grapes to pioneer Cloudy Bay, where Ivan became the viticulturist. In 1991, Ivan met James Healy when Cloudy Bay hired Healy as winemaker. In 2004, James and Wendy Healy and the Sutherlands started the Dog Point label, with fruit harvested in 2002. Dog Point is now run by the Sutherland children, Anna, Kirsty and Matt, the general manager. Dog Point has 840 acres with about 300 used for the annual production of about 75,000 cases of Dog Point wines, which are distributed in more than 50 countries. Dog Point also sells grapes to about a dozen other producers in the region.

Winemaker Murray Cook joined Dog Point in 2013 and we were eager to ask him some questions. The following email conversation has been edited for length.

Grape Collective: We’d guess that most consumers, when they think of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, think of it as crisp, herbal and easygoing. Yours, both the regular and the Section 94, have more personality than that, more depth, more minerality and a dash of salinity. There are extra dimensions. Why is this your style?

Murray Cook: In my opinion, the character of the wines is firstly built on by the character of the place and also the farming involved. These foundations are then built on with philosophies that aim to preserve this clarity of place, via the use of wild fermentation and hand harvesting. This obviously tones down the overt fruitfulness of Marlborough Sauvignon and creates, in my opinion, a less manipulated wine that can only be produced once. Each year’s differences are celebrated.

(Murray Cook, Dog Point's winemaker)

Often Sauvignon from the region is very full of flavour, due to the combination of our unique cool climate with its maritime influence, young soils and ripened by intense sunshine. So in my opinion, pushing this potential for flavour extraction further by the use of machine harvesting and strongly aromatic yeasts are not necessary. But each to their own. I find the diversity of flavours and characters in Marlborough Sauvignons to be quite interesting and there’s a lot more depth here than some give it credit for. But for me, from this place, there should be a uniqueness, and a quieter voice, that can best be delivered with our own endemic yeast and hand harvesting to tone down the impact of flavour from the skins.

GC: We called this “clarity with complexity.” What is the key to that style?

Cook: So I think they’re both achieved by the quieter voice as outlined above. There’s more opportunity to have more subtle flavours, textures and nuance visible, if the other robust flavours that Marlborough Sauvignon is known for, like elevated thiols and methoxypyrazines, are less pushed to the fore.

GC: Is Section 94 named for a part of the vineyard or a style, or both?

Cook: Section 94 is the original survey title given to the land where this vineyard is situated. In about the 1840’s/1850’s, English settlers arrived to the region and subsequently subdivided land for sale to live and farm. The land titles have since moved to “lot numbers” rather than “sections,” but the historical name was resurrected for this parcel of fruit. Ivan and James used to bring this fruit into Cloudy Bay when they worked there, so they always knew it as a parcel which delivered great consistency from year to year. It was never a blockbuster of flavour, but consistently achieved great balance of sugar, acid and flavour, which, when making wine from a single vineyard, having selected a vineyard that can deliver this is important.

From this point, one must consider the winemaking philosophies that follow as the main factor in the character of this wine. It’s, again, hand harvested, then barrel fermented and aged for 18 months in mostly older French oak barriques. Over this time in barrel, the wine sheds its immediacy of fruit and gains in a wealth of textures and complexity from the long and slow aging and evolution on lees. If it was to be repeated with another of our vineyards, I’m sure there would be subtle differences, but in my opinion the defining character of this wine is the methods and philosophies behind it rather than the site itself. The site delivers great fruit, consistently, but the philosophies of how it’s made define its style.

GC: Section 94 is meant to age. Is it the barrel fermentation and aging that does that?

Cook: Indeed. Compared to the [regular] Sauvignon, which spends four months in stainless to capture the purity and freshness, the Section 94 is spending 18 months in barrel. This increased level of oxygen over an extended time means that the primary fruit that Marlborough Sauvignon is known for isn’t protected and does fade into the background. What remains is a core of flavour that is very robust and age worthy. I would say that Section 94 is our most age-worthy wine. The character of Sauvignon at its core is very robust and long-aging in barrel allows this core and the evolution of complexity to shine. We only need to look at what the Loire Valley can achieve to prove this is true. The best wines out of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are such amazing wines of purity and ageability.

(Dottie with 2023 Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc and 2021 Dog Point Section 94)

GC: You use native/indigenous yeasts to some extent in the regular Sauvignon Blanc and exclusively in the Section 94. Why?

Cook: Trying to make wines unique to this place can only truly be achieved with the indigenous yeast from here.

GC: Using native yeast has various risks, though, right?

Cook: Indeed, there are steps that can be taken to increase or decrease the risk. However, once these are better understood, there should be no reason why your own indigenous yeasts aren’t the best possible yeast for the wines from your own vineyard.

GC: What is the oldest bottle of Section 94 you have had and how was it?

Cook: The first wine made was 2002 and they have aged wonderfully. I haven’t tried one in a while as there’s very few bottles remaining. The best bottles will likely still show the great aged Sauvignon characters overlying the citrus core, with honeyed toast, mealy and nutty tones with the same vibrant acidity we see from Sauvignon in Marlborough. You just need to find a bottle that has a good cork in it these days! Luckily we switched to screwcaps during 2014 to 2016 so one can be more assured the wine will age perfectly now, every time.

GC: The 2011 we tasted is actually available in some markets? When was it released?

Cook: The level of reduction in this wine was quite high upon release, so we made the decision to hold it at the winery. We’ve watched the wine over the years, knowing that reduction is a character that fades and evolves with age. Last year we made the decision the wine was ready to be sold -- the volume of which wasn’t enough to be sold in all of our 55 export markets, so only a few lucky ones were chosen (it has been well received in Australia also). Further to this, about six years ago, we made the decision to re-release all four of our wines with 10 years of age as a Library release. We do on occasion offer some markets other older vintages to add a further offering from us. It’s nice to be able to show our wines (especially to restaurants) with bottle age on them, as the wines are re-released when they are ready to drink and have more layers of aged complexity to them.

(Roast Pork with caramelized apples)

Lastly, with Section 94, again due to the impact that some reductive years can have on the way the wine shows upon earlier release, we decided to hold back more and more stock, in order to one day have all of our markets on an aged release of about five or six years from harvest of Section 94.

GC: By the way, we had a little tasting just last night with the 2023 and the 2021 Section 94. Dottie made pork with apples. Great pairing.

Cook: This sounds perfect!! I often mention pork is a great match for Section 94.

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher conceived and wrote The Wall Street Journal's wine column, "Tastings," from 1998 to 2010. Dorothy and John have been tasting and studying wine since 1973. In 2020, the University of California at Davis added their papers to the Warren Winiarski Wine Writers Collection in its library, which also includes the work of Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. Dottie has had a distinguished career in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at The Miami Herald, The New York Times, and at The Journal. John was Page One Editor of The Journal, City Editor of The Miami Herald and a senior editor at Bloomberg News. They are well-known from their books and many television appearances, especially on Martha Stewart's show, and as the creators of the annual, international "Open That Bottle Night" celebration of wine and friendship. The first bottle they shared was André Cold Duck. They have two daughters.