The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon is blended with 8% oak-fermented Semillon that lends it a slight pinky tinge to the wines. The nose has a nice lift, simple chalk dust, apple and a hint of peony. The palate is balanced with touches of rosewater and white flowers coming through. It could do with a touch of more tension in the mid-palate with green lemon a touch of sour cherry just on the finish but it gains a degree of elegance in the glass. Fine.Mike Eaton continues to furrow a fertile path with his boutique Marlborough label: Terravin.Importer: Sober Imports, New York, NY; tel. (914) 715-1243; fax (914) 738-0470

The 2006 Sauvignon/Semillon displays a pungent nose of gooseberry, cut grass, a little asparagus and earth that I find attractive, the palate very intense with vibrant gooseberry and lime flavors leading to a very herbaceous finish. If you love Sauvignon Blanc, you will adore this and if not, then avoid! But personally I admire its unashamed typicity. TerraVin is a boutique winery established by Mike Eaton who purchased his first 3.2-hectares of vines in 1998 with another 6.8-hectares planned in the future. The vineyard is based in the Omaka Valley on a north-facing slope with clay-rich soil that naturally reduces vigor, reduced further by high density planting of 5,000 vines/ha. Mike, himself, has almost unparalleled experience of vineyard management in Marlborough, having planted the area's first vines as a general laborer for Montana Wines at their Brancott vineyard in the 1970s. When I visited, he had just sold part of the vineyard to Spy Valley so that he could focus on Pinot Noir and Bordeaux varieties. These are full-bodied, beautifully hand-crafted wines with superb complexity and subtlety and are well worth seeking out, particularly his stunning reds.No known American importer.