Marlborough

Flinty, fleshy, full bodied and deliciously dry. Bull Paddock Sauvignon Blanc is one of Marlborough's top expressions of its most planted grape and an outstanding take on Sauvignon with complexity, depth and great length all providing superb drinking now - this wine works in place of a Chardonnay and will appeal to all white wine lovers thanks to its savoury flavour notes with just a mere hint of tropical fruit. This wine is great drinking now, excellent when paired with food and can also age well for up to four to five years. 

Winery notes:

Auntsfield continues the proud heritage of Marlborough?s first vineyard and winery established in 1873. Our Single Block wines display qualities distinctive to grapes grown within a defined
area at Auntsfield Estate. Consistent quality and character over many vintages has separated these single blocks out as producing our Reserve Wines.

Cob Cottage Chardonnay ? This small 2 hectare block is situated at the very southern elevated corner of the vineyard next to some old Oak trees. It has a unique free draining soil made up of crushed Greywacke rock that has fallen from the steep hill behind.

Displays concentrated aromas of ripe nectarine and white peach with undertones of citrus peel. Lifted notes of dried herbs and wood spice compliment nuanced aromas of roasted hazelnut, wet stone and honeycomb.

The pallet is concentrated and beautifully textured with a flowing mouth-feel. The fruit weight and oak balance layer with luscious acidity to provide a superb fresh, linear and creamy structure.

This wine was hand harvested and whole bunch pressed followed by an extended time ageing on the lees. The wine is a rich straw gold colour, with floral aromas and apricot and orange notes on the nose. Extended lees ageing adds complex creamy, toasty qualities and nuttiness on the palate. This is supported by an underlying stony minerality and balanced acidity. This is a highly rated wine which will benefit from ageing.

Winemaker Sam Weaver describes The Abyss Pinot Noir as an iron fist in a velvet glove. It's made with grapes grown on a hillside vineyard, which backs onto a precipitous cliff, hence the name, The Abyss. Vines were planted here in 2000 at a high density of approximately 5000 vines to the hectare, which is unusual for New Zealand. All of these grapes are 100% certified organic with BioGro New Zealand and also grown biodynamically. A high proportion of whole berries were included in the ferment with indigenous yeasts and the wine was aged in French oak barrels for 18 months with a modest 10% new oak.

Churton Estate founder and winemaker Sam Weaver cut his teeth on the classic wines of the world while working in fine wine retail in the United Kingdom. He and his wife Mandy Weaver then moved to New Zealand and set about creating one of this country's most focussed small wineries; a brand that does live up to the dream of creating 100% estate grown grapes, 100% certified organic production and 100% bottled on site, nearly all of the wines without fining or filtration. All the grapes are hand picked and natural yeasts ferment the vast majority of wines they make. These qualitative decisions impact every step of their winemaking in a positive fashion, providing exceptional quality grapes which in turn express themselves in outstanding wines.

Dry, dark and full bodied fleshy black plum flavours with a beautiful silky textured mouthfeel. This single vineyard Pinot Noir is made from  hand picked grapes grown on the Wrekin Vineyard in the Southern Valleys, Marlborough. Most of the grapes were destemmed with a small portion of 15% whole bunches to add structure and weight to the wine, which was fermented warm (up to 31 degrees Celcius) then transferred to French oak, 27% new for 10 months of ageing. This wine has hints of smoky flavour with a rich, dense earthy aroma leading into beautiful dark fruit flavours of plums and black cherries.

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

Bright flavours, fresh and light in style - and lighter in alcohol too with 9% ABV. Sauvignon Blanc is well suited to lower alcohol wines because it's so intense in flavour and this lively wine expresses that with its tropical fruit aromas, fresh herb tastes and its fresh zesty acidity, which adds balance and length of taste.

A great wine to drink when you want less alcohol but still want to enjoy a drink or two. That little bit less alcohol makes a big difference... and here's a tasty example which is also dry in style with 5 grams residual sugar (that's natural sugar from the grapes, retained from stopping the fermentation early). 

Commercial Description

This Pinot Noir is from our Ballochdale Vineyard, high in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough. This is the first wine Sir George made from this vineyard he acquired in 2023. The vineyard sits at 300m high and is one of the highest and most southerly vineyards in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough.

As soon as we released this wine, it was loved by all. It truly is a gorgeous example of a perfectly crafted Marlborough Pinot Noir. We are so proud to share it with you.

Tasting notes
Pale golden in colour with a fine perlage. Aromas of toasted oats, rock melon and nuances of tropical fruits leading to a warm honeycomb finish in the glass. On the palate the yeast autolytic evolution unfolds with the fine acid backbone to reveal a complex mineral finish. Extra Brut in style, this very dry Methode Traditionelle is best enjoyed as an aperitif or to accompany an Entree course. 

Viticulture
Clone UCD6 Chardonnay
Hand harvested as whole bunches from the Lower Wairau plains of Marlborough.
Picked on the 18 of March 2020 at 17.5 Brix, 13g/L Titratable Acidity, PH 2.9.

Winemaking
Whole bunch pressed to extract no more than 580L/tonne.
Inoculated with a yeast isolate from Champagne.
Fermented and aged in both Stainless steel vats and Oak Barriques.
Full Malolactic fermentation.
The base wine is assembled and tirage bottled 8 months from harvest.

Technical Summary
Sur lee bottle aging Minimum 36 months (refer to back label)
Dosage 2.0g/L
Alcohol 12.0 %

Beautiful Chaos Pinot Noir embodies a minimalist, mindful way of winemaking. Luscious biodynamic Pinot Noir grapes have been fermented in a small clay amphora pot. The result is an incredibly ethereal and silky expression of Pinot Noir, that is supported by layers of lush red fruits. The wine has been bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Certified organic and biodynamically grown
Suitable for vegetarians and vegans
No dairy products or eggs used during production

An aged release from of the Nautilus Pinot Noir which shows all the typical complex floral characters of violets and rose petals, sweet dark cherry, plums, earthy notes and a touch of toasty spice on the nose plus some sweeter aged touches. The palate is concentrated and elegant with a fine dense core of tannins that have softened over time.

TASTING NOTE
Bright, varietal, smooth textured aromas of peach and apple, grapefruit and light vanilla barrel spice quality. Equally bright and fruity on the palate with flavours that mirror the bouquet, a fine barrel texture with a cashew nut quality, plenty of acidity and fine wood tannins. A light lees quality layers in extra mouthfeel highlighting the peach and vanilla qualities.

WINEMAKING
This is a combination of 30% barrel-fermented and 70% stainless steel fermented wine. The barrel-fermented portion is made from grapes that were hand-harvested and gently whole bunch pressed to old French oak barrels for fermentation with a mix of wild and selected yeast strains with the aim to preserve the aromatic and fruit flavours from the vineyard. Wine was barrel-aged for 10 months on lees to build mouthfeel and texture. The stainless steel fermented portion was made of grapes that were machine harvested and field destemmed before being gently pressed to stainless steel holding tanks for fermentation at cool temperatures with selected yeast strains.

FOOD MATCHING
Pairs well with diversity of foods. Smoked fish and seafood are a great choice to match together with different poultry and pork dishes.

CELLARING POTENTIAL
Crafted to be enjoyed within 3-5 years of vintage date.

TASTING NOTE
This is a highly concentrated Pinot Noir from low yielding vines. This single vineyard wine displays rich dark fruit aromas of cherries and plums together with smoky and earthy undertones. Full bodied with immense depth of fruit flavours layered with forest floor complexity and great tannin structure. The densely layered palate of this wine shows all the complexity and richness of flavours making it ripe yet elegant wine with great structure and a juicy finish.

WINEMAKING
Ripe fruit was hand harvested and completely destemmed, but not crushed, with the aim of achieving a significant percentage of intact berries in the ferment. Grapes were put on cold soak for 4-5 days prior to undergoing wild fermentation. The wine remained on skins post fermentation to optimise tannin extraction whilst locking in the deep, ruby colour. This wine was drained and pressed and then aged in old French barriques for nine months during which time it underwent a complete malolactic fermentation. In pursuit of the highest quality this wine has not been fined.

FOOD MATCHING
Serve alongside a roasted beef or lamb and dark rich gravy and mushrooms. These dishes will complement the rich flavours and complexity of this wine.

CELLARING POTENTIAL
Crafted to be enjoyed within 3-5 years of vintage date.

?Meltwater is a new collection of small batch organic wines with texture and interest ? No formula here, just deliciously crisp and pure wines that express everything we love about Marlborough. The wines are named for the glacial meltwaters of the last ice age, which flowed from the high country of Marlborough, depositing sedimentary rock material as they criss-crossed the valleys below.? ?Mike & Anna Paterson, Corofin



Tasting Note: Picked ripe but still with a citrus core and good acidity. As with the 2021, plenty of pithy, waxy dry extract which is texturally very appealing. Plenty of interest and seductive on release.

Winemaking Notes: Hand harvested April 10th 2022. Natural ferment in older puncheons. Slow and steady primary fermentation over 7 months, stopping at 4gl RS; full malolactic fermentation on original lees. Racked, filtered and bottled March 2023. Biogro certified 6110. Only 65 cases made.

The Churton vineyard is east-nor-east orientation, 200 metres above sea level and spanning a ridge line between Marlborough’s Omaka and Waihopai Valleys.

It captures the cool morning and warm daytime sunshine ideal for long, slow ripening. Soils here are older and denser than neighbouring valley floor. Loess above a clay subsoil which, at deep levels, has good water holding capacity. Planting density 4,630 vines per ha. The Clod Block is one of 17 individual vineyard blocks planted to the hillside contours by Sam and Mandy Weaver. Vine age approx. 12 years. Striking for its purity and immediacy, this expresssion of Churton is sappy and structured, with layers that build seamlessly into a velvety richness.

Biodynamic farming regime and BioGro certified.

Off-dry and simply delicious! Our pick for serious Riesling connoisseurs. The fruit character of the Southern Valleys is balanced by the minerality of the river gravels, all wrapped up in a dry, crisp acidity. 10+ years of aging potential if you have the self-control but drinking exceptionally well now.

Vinification
The grapes were machine harvested in the cool of the morning, cold settled and cool fermented in stainless steel tanks before blending and finishing for bottling in spring.

Analysis at bottling

pH 3.09 | T.A. 7.35 g/l | RS 4.5 g/l | Alcohol 12.5%