Lake Road is a family operation in every sense of the word. Brothers Andrew and Steven Blampied are third-generation winegrowers, raised on their family’s land on the eastern edge of New Zealand—Gisborne, which has the distinction of being among the first places on earth to see the sun each morning. Their family has been farming this ground since the late 1800s. The vines came in 1975, making the Blampieds among the earliest serious viticulture pioneers in the country.

This particular bottling draws its fruit from Marlborough, New Zealand’s most celebrated Sauvignon Blanc country, where the Wairau Valley’s free-draining alluvial soils and long, sun-drenched days—cooled by brisk sea breezes off the coast—produce the kind of precise, aromatic, fruit-driven Sauvignon Blanc that put New Zealand on the world wine map. Lake Road farms sustainably under Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand certification, and it shows in the clarity and energy of the wine.

What’s in the glass is just flat-out delicious: bright tropical aromatics—guava, pineapple, citrus blossom—and a palate that delivers lemon, mango, and chamomile with lively acidity and a finish that keeps going. It’s everything great Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is supposed to be, from a producer most of our members haven’t heard of yet.

That last part is the whole point. Get in now.

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