Winemakers:
Hamish Clark and Stewart MacLennan
Winemaking:
The fruit was lightly whole bunch pressed, eliminating any skin phenolics. After settling, the juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain and fermentation was carried out in a mixture of large format cuvees and French oak barriques (100 per cent new). 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 and Burgundian Clone 95 grapes were sourced from a vineyard in the lower Wairau area. The fruit was carefully monitored during ripening and hand 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.
