Weekend wine guide: Marlborough’s Astrolabe lives up to its name
When Simon Waghorn, one of Marlborough’s most experienced winemakers for bigger producers, wanted a name for his own small venture, he chose Astrolabe for its “connotations of exploration and adventure. L’Astrolabe was the mighty ship sailed by French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville through the Marlborough Sounds in the early 19th century.”
Waghorn and his wife, Jane Forrest Waghorn, established Astrolabe in 1996. Today, daughters Libby and Arabella have taken over the general management and marketing reins, while Simon continues to craft some of the region’s most individual, rewarding wines.
Astrolabe Awatere Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025
★★★★★
Grown entirely in the Awatere Valley, this delicious wine was machine-picked, tank-fermented and bottled by mid-July. Intensely varietal, it is mouthfilling, pure and dry, with vigorous passionfruit, lime and green capsicum flavours, crisp acidity and a lasting finish. (13% alc/vol) $28-$30
Astrolabe Taihoa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024
★★★★★
Grown and hand-harvested at Kekerengu, on Marlborough’s southern coast, this distinctive wine was fermented and matured with indigenous (“native”) yeasts in old French oak puncheons. Bright lemon/green, it is ripely scented, fleshy and savoury, with rich, vibrant, tropical fruit flavours, showing excellent complexity and harmony. Currently delicious, it’s a drink-now or cellaring proposition. (14% alc/vol) $36-$45
Astrolabe Wrekin Vineyard Marlborough Chenin Blanc 2024
★★★★★