Kevin Judd arrived in Marlborough in 1985 to take up a job as Cloudy Bay’s first winemaker. After fashioning a sauvignon blanc lauded in Punch as “New Zealand’s finest export since Sir Richard Hadlee”, in 2009 he launched his own brand, Greywacke, including several white wines and a pinot noir.
Today, Judd (or “Juddy”, as everyone knows him in Marlborough), specialises in one level of each varietal wine – there are no “reserves”. Does he have a signature wine? Greywacke Wild Sauvignon, he says, is “the one we hang our hat on”.
Greywacke Marlborough Chardonnay 2021
★★★★★
This powerful wine was grown principally in the lower reaches of the Brancott Valley and at Fairhall, hand-harvested and fermented and aged for nearly a year in French oak barriques (20% new). Bright, light yellow/green, it has a fragrant, gently smoky bouquet. Notably sturdy and weighty, it has finely balanced acidity and concentrated, ripe stonefruit flavours, complex and savoury. A bolder style than most of the region’s chardonnays, it should be at its best 2025+. (14.5% alc vol) $43
Greywacke Marlborough Pinot Gris 2022
★★★★★
A wine to ponder over, this beauty was grown at Renwick, hand-picked, mostly fermented in old French oak barriques, then matured in old barrels for a further six months. Bright, light yellow/green, it is a powerful, fleshy wine, with lush stonefruit flavours, an unobtrusive splash of sweetness and finely balanced acidity. Already delicious, with impressive complexity and richness, it should be at its best 2025+. (14.4% alc/vol) $31
Greywacke Marlborough Riesling 2022
★★★★★
This single-vineyard wine was grown at Fairhall. Hand-harvested and fermented in a 50/50 split of tanks and old French oak barriques, it was blended and then fully barrel-aged for five months. Bright, light yellow/green, it is a full-bodied style of riesling, with concentrated, ripe, peachy flavours, showing excellent depth, delicacy and vigour, considerable complexity, gentle sweetness, fresh acidity and a harmonious, persistent finish. Already delicious, it should be at its best 2025+. (12% alc/vol) $31
Wine of the week
Greywacke Marlborough Wild Sauvignon 2021
★★★★★
This memorable wine is a top example of Marlborough sauvignon blanc from far outside the mainstream. Grown in the southern valleys and central Wairau Valley, it was fermented with indigenous yeasts in mostly old French oak barriques, and then barrel-aged. Bright, light yellow/green, it is weighty, rich and rounded, with concentrated, tropical fruit flavours, gently seasoned with oak, excellent body and complexity, and a very harmonious finish. An outstanding wine, with a powerful presence, it offers delicious drinking from now onwards. (14% alc/vol) $38
