| Vintage | 2023 |
| Production | 805 bottles |
| Vine Age | 4 Years |
| Vineyards | Cambridge Road Martinborough |
| Elevage | 13 months in barrel & 1 month Stainless Steel Tank |
| Skin contact | 5 days |
| Composition | 95% Marsanne, 4% Rousanne, 1% Viognier |
| Alcohol | 13.5% |
| Sulphites | 35ppm added |
This is the inaugural release of our home block white field blend. With this wine we pay homage to
the white wines traditional in the northern Rhone Valley looking to the villages of St Joseph and the
famous slopes of Hermitage.
In our short history here growing grapes on the Martinborough terrace,
Syrah (Planted 1986) has resonated in my mind and palate as a beautiful interpreter of our terrior. The
late ripeness curve and long hang time available in these latitudes allows subtle beauty the time it
deserves to speak in floral and lifted aromatic terms. The tannins are so very fine and the acidity
vibrant, and these in my view are the precursors to great wine.
So it was with a confident yet bold brushstroke that we decided to explore the potential of the classical Rhone Blanc varieties in the Wairarapa Valley for the first time. This wine represents our findings in what was a persistently wet and trying vintage. The results in my opinion are extraordinary, although I may be more than a little bit biased when referencing the beauty of this lovingly gestated vision.
While this wine is both young in terms of age and vineyard, the balance here is quite beautiful. We’ve managed to offer something that is both ripe and rich, full of the stone fruit memories of the grape, and yet with vibrant acidity that takes me to thoughts of orange oils and the kind of zing one would find in a Tangelo. Short skin contact has imbued the wine with a glorious golden light and a generosity of flesh.
I fully expect this wine to deliver beautiful and expressive character for at least a decade to come perhaps even double that number.
