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 Spring has finally arrived in Central Otago with the vines just coming out in bud - fingers
crossed over the next couple of months during the risky frost season. Gareth and his team
are looking forward to the new growing season with plenty of interesting vineyard trials
and the completion of planting Blocks 10, 11, 12 and the Winery Block. We're not sure if
Block 13 is such a great name for our experimental high density planting on the steep slope
immediately behind the winery!
During July, Gareth and I spent an intensive week visiting some exciting vineyards in
the Pinot Noir regions of California and Oregon. Much was learnt especially with regard
to soil health, organic farming and maximising flavour and character from the vineyard.
Prior to this, along with visiting our importers and restaurants in Singapore, Belgium,
Holland, London and Dublin, Nigel and I managed to squeeze in a road trip to Burgundy -
the home of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Lunch and a couple of visits in Chablis was a highlight
along with some fabulous cellar and vineyard visits to several distinguished producers
in the Côte d'Or. It is very refreshing to remind ourselves that we don't have the
centuries of experience and tradition and that we have a huge amount to learn in the quest
to produce great wine.
We currently have 2 of our staff working at vineyards overseas. Daniel Bull has spent
the summer at Mission Hill vineyard in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia and Malcolm
Francis (Assistant Winemaker) left immediately after the bottling of the 2002's for Cristom
Vineyard in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. We look forward to their return filled with
ideas and enthusiasm and especially the surprises they will bring to the mystery wine table!
Many of you would have either met, spoken to (or attempted to bribe!) Sarah Hobbs who
has looked after our mail order and cellar door for the last 3 years. Sarah regrettably
left in June for an exciting position at the nearby Central Otago Wine Company. With big
shoes to fill, we welcome Caroline Box who has recently joined us to look after all things
sales and marketing related. Early signs suggest that Caroline will continue to handle
the mail order as efficiently and fairly, but will be no softer touch with hard luck tales
when it comes to allocations of Block 3 and 5, than Sarah was!
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2002 was an exceptional vintage that combines the best elements of the 2000 and 2001
vintages. The Rieslings are richer and more concentrated than the sleek and minerally 2001's
and we were pleased to be able to make another Block 1 Riesling, similar in style to the
1999. As usual the 2002 Chardonnay is completely stainless steel fermented; refreshing
as well as concentrated and complex and will offer superb summertime sipping. We are also
releasing our first unfiltered Chardonnay specially selected from Block 2 and given a further
6 months in neutral barrels to settle clear. It's a very rich concentrated Chardonnay with
considerable complexity resulting from traditional, low input winemaking. We also have
the last few cases of the 2001 Pinot Noir and 2001 Chardonnay Barrel Fermented. Both of
these wines are drinking superbly and have opened up considerably since release. Our new
policy of holding more wine back for cellar door and mail order is paying dividends; enabling
us to offer you a wider range of exciting and unique wines.
The 2001 Pinot Noir Block 5 was recently released to our 'Block list' which is made up
of our longest serving mail order and cellar door visitors. Please indicate on your order
form if you would like your details included for the next release. (We hope to have some
left over bottles available of the 2001 Block 5 that we can sneak out with your order.)
All of the new releases are bottled with Stelvin screwcap closures. We have been absolutely
delighted with the acceptance of screwcaps to date, so much so that we have run out of
screwcap stocks of the 2001 Pinot Noir and 2001 Chardonnay Barrel Fermented and only have
cork left. Even restaurants like Gordon Ramsey Restaurant in London list our 2001 Pinot
Noir with screwcap closure. Similarly, Harrods wine shop in London is selling our 2001
Pinot Noir Block 3 in screwcap at £36 per bottle!
We were deeply saddened recently by the tragic death of one of our vineyard team Phillip
Aitken. Phil was a wonderful part of the Felton Road team and also helped in the winery
during harvest and bottling. Phil's outstanding golf and squash swing made him the champion
behind the shovel, digging out Pinot Noir fermenters with great gusto. He will be sadly
missed by all.
Lastly, a date for your diary. Pinot Noir enthusiasts should not miss the 3rd Central
Otago Pinot Noir Celebration, held in Queenstown on January 31 and February 1, 2003. For
further information email pinot@mastertouchevents.co.nz,
or fax (64) 3 310 6028. We would love to see you there.
We hope you enjoy our new releases and we look forward to seeing you next time you are
visiting Central Otago.
Cheers,
Blair Walter
Winemaker |
