• Off-dry style
• Pear & apple
• Ginger spice
• Lingering finish

This wine opens with aromas of ripe orchard fruits. Pear and apple with a hint of ginger spice. These carry through to the palate which is medium bodied, off-dry and full of concentration. There is a floral hint that gives lift to the intensity, and the lingering finish.

The fruit for this wine came from selected blocks in our Brancott and Squire vineyards, in the heart of Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. Old riverbeds, gravelly soils and wide diurnal variation are the hallmarks, creating fruit intensity and body. The vines are over 15 years old, Mass Selected on 3309 and SO4 rootstocks. The vines are trellised to VSP with 3-4 canes laid down.

The fruit for this wine was machine harvested from our local vineyards late March. It arrived at the winery for pressing and clarification, then went to temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Selected aromatic yeast was used, and daily tasting to optimise temperature and ferment kinetics. The wine was blended and stabilised before a final filtration into bottle.

New Zealand had ideal growing conditions leading into harvest with average crops and clean, intensively flavourful fruit with early budburst across all the wine regions. A slightly wetter December ensured healthy vines leading into the growing season and a drier than normal January and February created perfect conditions for veraison and grape ripening through to the start of harvest. Cooler nights in late February and March also helped lock in the natural acidity and freshness to the fruit. The dry February, March and April weather prevented disease from dictating harvest priorities and fruit quality was optimized. No oak was used in the winemaking to preserve fruit purity.

Food Pairing: Serve this wine with full flavoured fish such as grilled salmon or lightly spicy Asian dishes such as 5-spiced pork belly. Also serves brilliantly with platters and ripe, soft cheeses such as St Agur, or fruit desserts such as marsala-poached pears with vanilla crème.