Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc 2021 from Marlborough is a single–vineyard, old–vine sauv blanc that trades grassiness for flint, smoke and deep texture, sitting closer to white Burgundy than your typical Kiwi savvy. It’s hand–picked, wild–fermented and aged about 18 months in old French oak, then bottled unfined with minimal filtration for maximum character and ageability.

Aromas are intensely reductive at first: struck match, grilled nuts, smoke and flint over ripe grapefruit, baked lemon, mango, white peach and hints of passionfruit, beeswax and toast. The palate is powerful, creamy and concentrated yet driven by bright acidity, with layers of grapefruit pith, lemon, stonefruit, candlenut, oatmeal and subtle herbal notes pulsing through a very long, saline, slightly oily finish. It’s a love–it–or–hate–it, seriously complex style that will cellar comfortably for a decade or more.

On the table, Section 94 2021 is superb with richer dishes: roast or smoked chicken, salmon, scallops, shellfish in butter, roast cauliflower, or creamy, nutty cheeses, where its flinty reduction, depth and acidity cut through beautifully. It’s also an excellent bottle to decant and pour blind for Burgundy lovers who think they “don’t drink sauvignon blanc”.