New Zealand is one of the first places in the world to greet the morning sun.  This fresh start is accompanied by a dawn chorus, or waraki in Māori, of melodic birdsong echoing from tree to tree.  This sound is distinctly of its place and where birdlife flourishes this early morning wake up call can be almost deafening.

Dawn Chorus makes organic Sauvignon Blanc from Hawke’s Bay on the East Coast of Aotearoa New Zealand, where the land means as much to us as the wine we put in the bottle.

The organic vineyard is found 20 miles from the sea and nestled at the bottom of uplifted limestone hills. This block is influenced by the river that used to flood across the valley floor 45,000 years ago - and even earlier and deeper than that - as the entire area was a salt lake formed by trapped seawater as Aotearoa was lifted out of the sea.

The sea water is long gone, but as a result the soils are typically shallow river silts over greywacke stone and deep, slightly saline sub-soils. These soils, combined with a classically cool climate and low rainfall, produce grapes with moderate sugars, bright acidity and beautifully complex wines.