Colour:
Pale gold.
Aroma:
Ripe peach, savoury popped corn and spicy toasted oak.
Palate:
Complex and full bodied with rich flavours of peach, dried fig and coffee bean. A rich rounded mouthfeel is enhanced by warm spice, toasted oak notes and vanilla on the finish.
Ageing:
Drinking well now and will continue to evolve and improve over the next five years.
Winemakers:
Hamish Clark and Stewart MacLennan
Winemaking:
The fruit was lightly pressed, eliminating any skin phenolics. After settling, the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain and fermentation was carried out in 100 per cent new French oak barriques. The wine then went through malolactic fermentation, followed by ten months ageing on yeast lees with regular stirring. Once completed the best barrels were selected for this blend and it was lightly fined, stabilised and prepared for bottling.
Viticulture:
Clone 15 grapes were sourced from a vineyard in the lower Wairau area. The fruit was carefully monitored during ripening and machine harvested at maximum flavour maturity and physiological ripeness.
Block: 11
Region:
Lower Wairau Valley.
Terrior:
Soils: Even, fertile, deep, free-draining silt loams on sand.
Topography: Flat, even land.
Climate: Slightly cooler than further up the Wairau Valley with a long, slow ripening period.
Regional Characteristics & Contribution to Uniqueness of Flavours:
This is a slightly cooler area, which contributes to the wine’s elegance. The soil from the lower Wairau Valley is very nutrient rich, which is reflected in the mineral character of the wine.
Wine Analysis:
Alcohol 13.0% v/v
Residual sugar 2.1g/litre
Acidity 5.1g/litre
pH 3.54
Our Food Match Recommendation:
Mushroom risotto topped with ricotta.
Vegetarian friendly
Click here to open the 2018 tasting notes as a PDF.
Previous Vintages Tasting Notes:
GOLD MEDAL - NZ International Wine show 2019
GOLD MEDAL - Royal Easter Show Wine Awards 2020
5 STARS - Winestate Australia 2020
Top 100 - Sydney International Wine Show 2020