It’s a rare thing in this country to see sauvignon blanc blended with anything. It’s usually pure, crisp, punchy and clean. However, the team from Gladstone Wines in the Wairarapa have opted to get a tad funky on it by creating a co-ferment of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier in homage to the Dr Doolittle beast, the Pushmi-Pullyu. The grapes were crushed and co-fermented with 50% of the juice going into old oak barrels to add weight and toasty depth to the wine, before each batch underwent lees stirring to encourage creaminess around the passionfruit, capsicum, peach, apricot, tomato leaf, a lick of jasmine and buckets of fresh herbs.
