Winemaker's Comment - October 2005

Looking back to the release of the first of the 2004’s at this time last year, a lot of the same things can be said. Fortunately in 2005 we did not have to contend with the frost damage that hit our Riesling and Chardonnay from Block 2, however we were affected by the very poor December weather. Cold temperatures and rain greatly affected the flowering and consequently the fruit set and potential yield. Yields were tiny (leading to excellent fruit concentration), and the remaining stable months of the growing season contributed to a high quality but diminutive harvest.

The Rieslings are remarkably similar to the 2004’s: high acidities, intense fruit expression and, like the 2004’s, we have again made more in the off-dry “Riesling” style than the Dry. Traditionally we had always focussed production on the dry style, simply because the market had an expectation of New World Rieslings to be in that style and, sadly, not enough people were open to wines with residual sugar. However, because we do have a unique climate that gives us intense varietal characters and wonderful vibrant acidities, we feel that an off-dry style is a better expression of our vineyard’s potential. It delights me that people compare this wine with the great Rieslings of Germany where they have a similar balance of residual sugar, acid and alcohol. This takes me to the movie set we visited while driving across the cornfields of Iowa (where my wife Erin is from!) this past July ….“If you build it, they will come”. Anyone remember the film Field of Dreams? Well, “If we make it, they will drink” and I’m very pleased to say that this is now precisely the case.

We apologise to the fans of our tank fermented or unoaked “Chardonnay” as for the first time we have not made this wine. Again with the low yields and also the intense varietal expression in the grapes, each parcel of the vineyard was better suited to be fermented in barrel. We do intend to continue to make the tank fermented style, as not only is it a very popular and enjoyable style of Chardonnay, it also contributes to our understanding and learning of Chardonnay’s potential from our vineyards. Fingers crossed that we have a season of normal yields in 2006. Gareth’s already had several all night frost fighting sessions where he’s also conducting a field trial of whether tea has more caffeine than coffee!

We fortunately still have a small amount of the 2004 Chardonnay Barrel Fermented and the 2004 Pinot Noir to offer. Both are now opening up very nicely indeed and showing just how successful the 2004 vintage was for us. There is an interesting similarity between 2004 and 2002 Pinot Noirs. Both were vintages possessing excellent fruit concentration and mouthfeel and more depth than the more elegant and lighter 2003 and 2001’s. The 2005 Pinot Noirs (undergoing malolactic at the moment), like the Rieslings, are going to be in the same mould. It’s actually broken a series of vintages where the characters were similar within the odd versus the even vintages. 1999, 2001 and 2003 were ripe and higher yielding vintages where we made Vin Gris to help restore the skin to juice ratio, and made more elegant and refined Pinot Noirs. This is compared to the 2000, 2002 and 2004 that made deeper and more concentrated, sometimes rather brooding and more muscular wines. I’m pleased to see the 2005’s stay in the deep end: if a wine is a reflection of the winemaker, I’m probably more in the broody than the elegant camp!

As usual I’ve had my winter escape to catch up on our markets overseas including trips to Japan, the USA and Canada. While we were sad to see Malcolm Francis (Assistant Winemaker) leave after four vintages with us, we were also very proud of him to be accepted for the Winemaker’s position at the new Rockburn winery being built nearby in Cromwell.

The 2004 Pinot Noir Block 5, 2005 Riesling Block 1 and 2004 Chardonnay Block 6 were recently released to our ‘Block list’ which is made up of our longest serving and loyal mail order and cellar door visitors. The “Block List” helps us to allocate our small volumes of wines without having the wines being heavily over subscribed. Please indicate on your order form if you would like your details included on the wait list for the next release. (We sometimes have some unclaimed allocations that we can sneak out with your order.) The Chardonnay Block 6 is a new wine in the mould of the Chardonnay Block 2 we have made in 2001 and 2003. It spends 18 months in barrel and bottled with no fining or filtration – a must have for Chardonnay lovers!

As per last year, we regretfully will not have sufficient quantities to justify keeping the cellar door open throughout the summer weekends.We will however be here during the week for you to come and taste, collect your wines, and who knows what else we sometimes have opened or hidden under the counter!

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