Notes:

2009 Angel Flower Pinot Noir

30 hl/ha from this north-facing parcel; nine year old vines. Denser, shallower soils, still clay-limestone: 20% clay, 3-7% active lime. Biodynamic from before planting.

Late April pick, hand destemmed, 10% whole cluster. Ambient soak of 5-7 days, warm vineyard yeast fermentation (33C), 27-28 day cuvaison. Natural, spring malolactic. Ten months on original lees, in French barriques, 25% new, then held a further 6 months in tank. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, in September 2010. Alcohol 13.8%. Production: 260 cases.

Slightly cloudy, yet still luminous; a brickish, garnet hue.

Bright and lifted, fresh and floral (hedgerow flowers, cherry blossom, wild rose), and beautifully spiced: cinnamon, allspice, clove, with a tenor note of dried orange peel.

Vigorous and lively, yet with soothing and seductive, lightly sweet, florals in the mouth, allied to little red fruits: redcurrant, griotte, sloe, thimbleberry. Delicious for its combination of comfort and invigoration – like a pink-tinged, fresh and fleshy Boucher nude.

Note: there exist many additions and processes in winemaking, for bolstering colour and clarity: one can impose refrigeration and excess sulphur dioxide before ferment, dose with commercial enzymes, add tartaric acid, add clarification agents, force through filters, etc. We believe that wine, at its most essential and honest, involves the happy collaboration of organic grapes and native yeasts – and very little else. Our young wines therefore will often show a lighter hue, and more opacity, than their industrialised peers. We’re confident that the colour of our wine is largely stable, having been raised in the presence of oxygen; any compounds that oxydise easily have already been allowed to do so, and precipitate out. Most of us accept – even celebrate – unfiltered fruit juice, yeasty beer, plunger coffee; why then do we distrust natural, unprocessed wine? We can guarantee you that these wines are healthy and stable, and we believe that their perfume and integrity have been preserved.

2009 Earth Smoke Pinot Noir

32 hl/ha from our east-facing home block; nine year old vines. Deep, well structured, clay-limestone soils: 30% clay, 12-15% active lime. Also biodynamic from inception.

Late April pick, hand destemmed, 10% whole cluster. Ambient soak of 5-7 days, warm vineyard yeast fermentation (33C), 27-28 day cuvaison. Natural, spring malolactic. Ten months on original lees, in French barriques, 25% new, then held a further 6 months in tank. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, in September 2010. Alcohol 13.8%. Production: 330 cases.
A bit cloudier still, and a shade more towards brick (the wine refused to settle naturally, and we in turn refused to fine or filter).

Intensely and complexly scented: cacao, blood orange, tamarind, kelp, old rose, and here, a richness of things autumnal – game, wet earth, fallen leaves, fungi. A dark cherry/black plum note abides and combines.

Wonderful richness and grip: rewarding that a wine so light in colour can offer such palate authority. Tasting this precipitates a kind of crashing through layers – of silk, stone, fruit, spice and game. Perhaps less pretty than the Angel Flower, but may prove deeper. Finishes tight and long, with a pronounced, limestone-driven salinity.

Note: Despite their saline energy and great extract, one could be forgiven for believing that wines like these will need to be enjoyed early. I’d suggest you try the following experiment: open a bottle, drink a glass or two, then recap; continue this protocol over several days, even a week. I think you’ll be astonished by their resilience in the presence of oxygen. This bodes well for positive development in cellar.

09 Kerner Pinot Blanc

40hl/ha from this cool, strong-soiled site on Fareham Lane in the Waihopai Valley.

A large number of tiny, shrivelled berries yielded a wine of low yields and great power. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed, no settling; vineyard yeast fermentation enduring 17 months, in used French oak, primarily 450-500L puncheons. Bottled September 2010. Alcohol 14.9%, RS 11.5 g/l. Production: 290 cases.

Deep, full straw/gold.

Rich and incredibly intense, and certainly complex: pine honey, candied yellow fruits, marmalade, ginger, even light soy notes. Offers some lovely, focusing empyreumatics – hot rock, toasted spice, grilled bread.

Fresh and cooling in the mouth, surprisingly subtle and elegant, for a wine of such intimidating power and presence. Lightly sweet, not unlike a macedoine of fresh peach, nectarine, melon and strawberry, drizzled with a touch of honey, then a glass of our 08 Pinot Blanc poured over all. Still, this wine is serious and insistent, and provides simultaneously both volume and drive.

2009 Cowley Family Pinot Noir

A miniscule 14hl/ha from this gorgeous vineyard tucked into the hills at the very top of the Wairau Valley, so sensitively and meticulously managed by the team at Auntsfield.

Hand picked, 80% destemmed, transferred by gravity to tank. Ambient soak of 5-7 days, warm vineyard yeast fermentation, 27-28 day cuvaison. Natural, spring malolactic. Seventeen months on original lees in French barriques (15% new); bottled unfined and unfiltered in September 2010. Alcohol 14.5%. Production: 460 cases.

Bright, ruby/garnet.

Fascinating, bright and spicy nose of cardamom, clove, white pepper, caraway, fennel seed. Pungent dried herbs, and complications of fresh bouquet garni : celery leaf, parsley root, thyme. Lifted and very floral. Also some light and lovely fruit associations – cranberry, pomegranate, dried cherry - but at this stage, this still suggests more garden than orchard.

Lively and urgent, vibrant and fresh: rhyming rhubarb, thyme and sloe notes, over a pulsing energy of little red fruits. Lovely energy and vivacity and length.

2008 Field of Fire Chardonnay

1.7 tonnes/acre from this tiny, south-east facing home block; eight year old vines. Slightly variable soils from top to bottom, though primarily shallow (10-15cm) glauconitic clays over well-drained limestone. Biodynamic from inception.

Late April pick, whole bunch pressed, in a lovely little basket press borrowed from our friends at Bell Hill; no settling, no SO2. Vineyard yeast ferment, enduring 9 months, in a second use 450L puncheon. Natural malolactic, but unfinished until Summer 2010. Ten months on lees in barrel, then transferred to a variable capacity tank for a further 16 months; bottled unfined and unfiltered on the winter equinox, June 2010. Alcohol 13.2%. Production: 50 cases.

Brilliant yellow-gold.

A nose of baked peach, pate brisee, and yellow flowers - acacia and fennel blossom. Also a comfortable note of warm cornbread.

Lush on entry, but quickly turns streamlined, from stony acidity and girdling phenolics: great volume and energy, condensing and accelerating on the palate. Flavours of yellow peach, ground almonds, and lemon curd. Very fluid, very long.

2008 Lion's Tooth Chardonnay

1 tonne/acre from this steeply inclined, east facing home block. Gorgeous soils, with nut and crumb structure and great mineral fertility: 30% clay, 15-20% active lime. Again, biodynamic from inception.

Late April pick, whole bunch pressed, in the basket press borrowed from Bell Hill; no settling, no SO2. Vineyard yeast ferment of 9 months, in a second use 450L puncheon. Natural malolactic, but unfinished until Summer 2010. Ten months on lees in barrel, then transferred to a variable capacity tank for a further 16 months; bottled unfined and unfiltered on the winter equinox, June 2010. Alcohol 13.3%. Production: 50 cases.

Deep, brilliant straw gold.
Emergent aromas of sliced pear, hot stone, hawthorn (blossom), and alyssum.
Immediately dense and powerful, rich but stern; something nearly solid about this wine. An intense kind of inwardness, the wine folding in upon itself, condensing to an astonishing saline core. Enormous force and length, with alternating assertions of golden flavour - ripe pear, toast, flower honey, nuts - and chalk-hard structure.

Note:
The somewhat delayed release of our 2008 Chardonnays is due to their late and very long malolactic fermentations. The Burgundian producers with whom I've worked have always appreciated late malos, for their tendency to confer complex wines of great longevity. I feel this effect will prove true with these two wines. While less primary than their (already bottled) 09 counterparts, the 08's are perhaps more densely layered. Certainly, they blossom with air, growing fresher and more floral over hours, and even days, in open bottle .We urge you to decant, if consuming these wines soon, and to enjoy watching them open and unfurl.

2008 Rose Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling

1.8 tonnes/acre, an inclusive pick: 85% noble rot, 15% shriveled golden berries.

Harvested in late May, at 39 brix. Whole bunch pressed, unsettled, fermented with vineyard yeasts and no temperature control in tank, for 18 months. Bottled unfined, but filtered, on the summer equinox, December 2009. 14.7% alcohol, pH 3.59, TA 5.8, RS 110g/l.

Limpid straw/gold, with coppery highlights.
Pungent, musky, dried fruit (quince, apricot) bouquet, with a multitude of spice hints: dried ginger, coriander and fennel seeds, caraway. Exciting and exotic: hoisin and lemongrass and torn asian herbs and sesame and wild honey. Begins viscous and super-concentrated, but diffuses in a lush and invigorating way, spreading to coat and refresh every part of the palate. Fantastical, in its way, that a wine so profligate and expansive could remain so focused and vital.

2008 Riverbrook Riesling

2.4 tonnes/acre from this close-planted vineyard on Brancott Valley Road; silt-bound gravels.

A carefully sorted (for grey rot, underripe bunches) but inclusive (of noble rot, and ripe berries, both turgid and shrivelling) pick, in a season that willed 25% botrytis. Whole bunch pressed, no settling, no fining agents. Indigenous fermentation of 17 months. Bottled December 2009, on the summer equinox. Alcohol 13.7%, pH 3.41, TA 5.8 g/l, RS 15g/l.

Production 190 cases.

Brilliant yellow gold.

Powerful bouquet of yellow fruits - mirabelle, muskmelon, Golden Queen peach - and herb and weed flowers: chamomile, wild fennel, goldenrod. Also an unusual, but intriguing musky/dusty note, no doubt from the noble rot.

Wonderfully rich and broad, mouthcoating and expansive, but with no troubling loss of detail or energy. Slippery and insistent at the same time. Long, complex, ripe yellow finish, with an attractive almond-kernel grip balancing the fruit sweetness.

2008 Calvert Pinot Noir

A sufficient, but small-berried harvest from this beautiful Bannockburn site, gratefully received after the penury of the poor-flowering 2007 vintage. Managed biodynamically by the consistently brilliant team at Felton Road. Soils of schist and quartz sand.

Hand picked, 75% destemmed, thus 25% whole cluster, transferred by gravity to tank. Ambient soak of 3-5 days, warm indigenous yeast fermentation, 27-28 day cuvaison. Natural, spring malolactic. Fourteen months on original lees in French barriques (25% new); bottled unfined and unfiltered on the winter equinox, June 2009. Alcohol 14.3%, pH 3.71. Production: 700 cases.

Ruby/black, with purple tinges.
Thyme branch, creosote, raspberry puree; a note of bruised blackberries in fresh cream. Reelingly floral: hedgerose, nasturtium, lavender. An intriguing muscat/orange zest component - musk this year in place of spice. Rich and broad, expansive, alluring and inviting without becoming profligate; very ripe, something almost essential, but nothing reduced or preserved; really saturates the palate and senses, in a lush but invigorating way. May well tread the line between lust and listen, but there's content here for anyone inclined to attend.

2008 Hille Late Harvest Semillon

1.7 tonnes/acre, 90% noble rot, 10% dessicated, ripe, yellow berries, a whole vineyard pick, for greatest site expression. From a maligned Marlborough vintage for dry whites from late varieties, and rightly so: we waited for ripe flavours in the non-botrytis-affected fruit, while noble rot continued to advance, and eventually consigned ourselves to no dry Semillon this year. Our reward: the sun did eventually reemerge, the berries shrivelled beautifully, and we were gifted this unique wine, from a season the likes of which we'll probably never see again.

Collected at 39 brix, whole bunch pressed, no enzymes or sulfur or fining "agents" added. Unsettled juice fermented with vineyard yeasts for 19 months, in 450L French hogsheads, 60% new. Bottled unfined, filtered, on the summer equinox, December 2009. 13.4% alcohol, pH 3.45, TA 6.7, RS 100g/l. Production: 150 dozen full bottles, 130 dozen half bottles.

Luminous, viscous, deep-lighted gold.
Heady musky/floral/spicy bouquet, multifaceted and complex: beeswax, lanolin, talcum powder, candied ginger, dried orange peel, verbena, citrus blossom, and a suggestion of vanilla bean.
Lovely lift and floral sweetness, with an undercurrent of blossom honey and stony acidity; really fresh and pretty, light-footed and charming, for so concentrated and age-worthy a wine.

2007 Hille Semillon (Dry)

3.2 tonnes/acre from this vineyard at the very top of the Brancott valley; remorselessly stony soils and a long growing season.

Hand picked in four tries, whole bunch pressed, no settling, indigenous yeast fermentation of 13 months, in French oak, primarily 500 litre puncheons (50% new). Full, natural, spring malolactic. Bottled May 2008 after 15 months on original lees. A blend of 95% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc. Alcohol 13.5%, pH 3.19, RS 2.4 g/l. Production: 450 cases.

Straw yellow. (See notes above re: clarity.)
First nose of sweet herbs - chervil, fennel, lovage - then opens abruptly to preserved lemon, alyssum, board wax, and toast.
Urgent, implosive, adamant; flavours of lemon curd, butterscotch, and wet stone; tight, electric, and very long. An intellectual, provocative wine.

2007 Lebecca Riesling

3.7 tonnes/acre from this vineyard on Wratts Road in Rapaura; deep, gravelly silts. Ripe, clean, golden fruit, with no botrytis. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed, lightly settled. Indigenous yeast fermentation of 5 months, which stopped naturally. Held in tank on fine lees for another 8 months. Bottled May 2008. Alcohol 11.0%, pH 3.15, TA 6.4g/l, RS 34g/l. Production 350 cases.
Pale white gold.

Fresh, and ripe; comice pear, white peach, red delicious apple; lifted and floral - honeysuckle, alyssum, cherry blossom; wet stone.

Compact and juicy, flavours of ripe pear, red apple and talc; lightly sweet floral notes play through the phenolic architecture of the wine; apt balance of acid and sugar, so that the sweetness seems to disappear on the long, minerally finish.

For tasting notes on previous release wines, please click here.

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