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 %

An aged release 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.

What do you get when you cross a Proper Crisp with a Garage Project Beer?  A Beer Crisp and a Crisp and a Crisp Beer, of course!

Out of this collaborative mash-up we bring you a limited edition 'beer inspired' Crisp, made using a blend of spices, a touch of yeast and the finest Nelson grown hops.

Chardonnay with all the bells and fresh citrusy flavour notes adding depth and balance to the smooth creamy notes. Here's a wine that shows how exceptionally well Chardonnay grows in Marlborough. 

This is an exceptional single vineyard expression of cool climate Pinot Noir with a silky mouthfeel and medium body. It's made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in the windy, cool climate of Marlborough's Awatere Valley where Pinot Noir expresses itself in beautiful red fruit flavours.

Rapaura Springs makes several different single vineyard Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs as part of the winemaking team's continued exploration of site and grape variety. This is an exceptional wine. 

Intensely perfumed with lifted savoury notes interlaced with dark cherries, plum and cracked pepper. The tannins are soft and silky, layered with plush, ripe red fruits.

In Essential Awatere fashion the finish is lively, crisp and lingering.

A delicious wine that brings together ?new world? fruit and ?old world? elegance and minerality.

In a valley forged by fault lines, carved by winds, drenched by sun and cooled by the Pacific Ocean, our wines are the essence of the Awatere. 

The Awatere Valley is windy, dry, stony and harsh, with hot days and cold nights that create extraordinary wines. Those extremes are heightened at the exposed Breloft Vineyard, where vines teeter at the edge of the Awatere River, buffeted by winds from the nearby Pacific Ocean. 

They dig their roots deep through rocky soils to survive, and produce wines of elegance, with a minerality and crisp clean acidity that are unique to our sliver of land in the heart of the Awatere Valley.