Central Otago

A great wine made in tiny quantities from the cool North Otago Waitaki Valley where hot days, cool nights and a long growing season produce high quality grapes in small volumes. The Valli winemaking team of Grant Taylor, Jenn Parr and Karl Coombes hand harvest all their grapes, whole bunch pressing them to barrel, including 22% new oak. Full solids with lees stirring during maturation for 12 months gives this wine body to burn and a lingering flavoursome finish comes from the high acidity from this edgy cool climate, nicely balanced by all that lees aging. A beautiful complex Chardonnay to drink now or to cellar. 

Providore is a new kid on the block in Central Otago and is the brainchild of well seasoned winemaker Pete Bartle, who has made wine in the region for the past couple of decades. He buys Pinot Gris grapes from Gibbston Valley for this dry, refreshing and aromatic Pinot Gris, which is nicely balanced by fresh acidity, which adds zingyness to this medium bodied, juice white. Gibbston is the smallest of all Central Otago's sub-regions when it comes to the number of grapes planted and it is also the last place to be harvested. This long season allows a lengthy ripening season and highly flavoursome wines. 

All grapes in this rich and unctuous sweet wine were hand picked to retain the luscious flavours and treacly texture of botrytised grapes (late harvested, noble rot infected grapes). Flavours are of peach, citrus, honey and floral, which sit in this  beautifully structured dessert wine.

Nina Late Harvest Riesling is named in honour of Domenic Mondillo’s late mother, Giovanina, who was also known as Nina. 

Drink with soft cheeses and lemon desserts.

One of our absolute faves here at Regional Wines. Central Otago based, Austrian born and bred winemaker Rudi Bauer is the mastermind behind the stunning wines at Quartz Reef winery, which he founded and then furthered his own career by studying biodynamics and organics. All of his Quartz Reef wines are certified by both BioGro and Demeter for biodynamic production.

The grapes for this Blanc de Blanc were hand picked and had their second fermentation in bottle followed by 60 months aging on lees. It was riddled and disgorged by hand and has refreshing citrus notes and irresistible bakery aromas which highlight the great suitability of world's southernmost wine region for sparkling wine production.

This is a great example of world class m?thode traditionnelle.

This outstanding expression of Pinot Noir comes from one of the smallest wine regions in New Zealand, the cool climate Waitaki Valley in North Otago. 

Flavours of ripe plums, red cherries and a very subtle but noticeable smoky aroma all intermingle in this beautifully complex Pinot from the outstanding, if challenging climate in Waitaki - a tiny and great quality wine region. 

Full bodied, funky, dry and orange tinged, thanks to eight months of skin contact which provides colour and flavour. Clockwork Orange is all about texture and skin contact is its defining attribute. Flavours here are of zesty acidity thanks to the inclusion of Albarino, Riesling and Chenin Blanc - three great white grapes that all contribute zesty, zingy aspects from their naturally  high acidity. 

It's full bodied and, yes, has some orange tinges to its colour thanks to skin contact during the fermentation of this wine. 

It's a style that owes its origins to Georgia, possibly the oldest wine region on Earth.

This is an excellent quality dry Central Otago Riesling.

"Beautiful clarity of aromas in the grapefruit and lime-peel zone. Then abundant stony, flinty, wet rock complexity. Immensely fresh palate, this is full of life and has a very long, seamless run to a dry, flavorsome finish. Drink or hold. *Top 100 New Zealand Wines of 2018*"   (10/2018)

96 points James Suckling.

Zesty and concentrated Riesling from Carrick Winery's stunning certified organic vineyard in Bannockburn, where the elevated site produces grapes with delicious juicy intensity and lingering acidity to balance a light touch of residual sweetness from the grapes. Super concentrated aromas of grapefruit and mandarin add to the stylish, off-dry flavours in this beautifully balanced wine, which is tasty now and will evolve positively for at least another 10 years. 

Meticulous handling and low yield farming create an elegant, concentrated Riesling from Central Otago producer, Prophet's Rock. Vinification methods used in this wine draw heavily from Alsatian winemaking. This is a wine rich with lemon and floral notes, with an underlying mineral backbone. 

Matt Dicey, Winemaker notes:

?Vibrant aromas of black pepper, liquorice and floral notes on the nose. With a dense and savoury tinged mid-palate with sandalwood and cedar notes drawing the wine together. Cassis flavours flow through the fine acidity driving through a long finish.?

Winery notes:

Our Ghost Town Syrah is one of the few Syrah?s you?ll find from a region so famous for Pinot Noir. Handcrafted in limited quantities from our Bendigo Vineyard in Central Otago, planted in 2001 at a higher altitude. Together with Bendigo vineyard?s unique personality and minimal winemaking intervention, this Syrah displays fine texture and suppleness. We expect this wine to evolve with careful cellaring for a further 10-15 years.

Rose is on a rise and this one was made entirely from Pinot Noir grapes grown on two vineyards in Bannockburn; Muirkirk and Felton Road. 

Lively, refreshing, dry and light in body as well as colour which comes from gentle whole bunch pressing over five hours to retain a little colour. The juice was fermented in stainless steel at ambient temperatures with wild yeasts, which add a savoury tang to the fresh summer berry flavours of strawberries and raspberries, intertwined with the freshness that gentle acidity brings to this wine. 

Certified organic.

?A translucent garnet hue with aromas of wild strawberry, pomegranate and pomelo laced with wild thyme, cedar, and gunflint. This unique bouquet is followed on the palate with cardamom, allspice, damson plum, strawberry, and tart cherry. The wine is lithe and agile with fine tannins and incredible persistence, finishing with distinctive salinity. Intense fragrance, unique savoury undertones, and electric energy are the hallmarks of Valli Waitaki Pinot Noir and the 2022 vintage delivers this in a balletic way.  Mesmerising at release, this wine will continue to develop for at 15+ year? Jen Parr - September 2023

The four Valli Pinot Noirs

The four sub regions that winemaker Grant Taylor makes Pinot Noir from each year encompass widely varying landscapes, soil types and climates from the maritime influenced weather in the Waitaki Valley Vineyard on the ironically named Grant's Road; a site that Grant Taylor owns, through to the semi continental climates of Gibbston, Bannockburn and Bendigo. 

Bendigo

Valli Bendigo Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown on the Chinaman's Terrace Vineyard in Bendigo, Central Otago. This elevated vineyard was planted in 2005 between 314 metres and 374 metres above sea level with five different Pinot Noir clones; Abel, 115, UCD5, 667 and 777. The soils are shallow sandy loams with a high clay content and also include a small lower section with gravel soils.  Bendigo has a semi continental, arid climate. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Bannockburn

Valli Bannockburn Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on the Hall Vineyard, which was planted in 2000 in Bannockburn at 350 metres above sea level. This area has a semi continental climate. It is planted with six different clones of Pinot Noir; namely, 777, 115, 10/5, UCD5, 113 and 13. The soils here are wind blown loess over schist bedrock. They are deep, moderately sandy and free draining. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Gibbston Valley

Valli Gibbston Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on the Gibbston Highway, which were planted between 1999 and 2000 at between 343 and 351 metres above sea level. The Pinot Noir clones on this site are 777, 115, UCD5 and 114. Soils are alluvial loess which ranges from 0.5 to 1 metre deep over firm river gravels.

Rainfall is lower here than in Bannockburn and Bendigo. The climate is considered semi continental. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Waitaki Valley

Valli Waitaki Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on Grant's Road in the Waitaki Valley, a maritime influenced climate planted between 2004 and 2005 at 200 metres above sea level on limestone based soils. River gravels also make up some of the soil type here and vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

The evocatively named Central Otago winery, Wooing Tree, is as famous for its pink wines as for its full bodied Pinot Noirs. Tickled Pink is a light ros?, made 100% from Pinot Noir as a sweet wine. Flavours of strawberries, red berries and honey are well balanced by refreshing acidity, which adds length and zestiness to this wine. It's a great match with soft creamy cheese as well as with your favourite pudding.