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2012 "Pisa Terrace Vineyard" Riesling, suggested retail is $27/bottle
This Riesling reflects the steep hillside of our vineyard: exposure to wind, stones, and the vine’s struggle to set fruit and ripen it. We chose to ferment it almost to dryness to accentuate the minerality that our vineyard shows, with citrus and green apple fruit and elusive herb undertones adding to classic Riesling flavours. The partial aging in a neutral oak puncheon complements the minerality, and adds a mouth-filling texture to balance the racy citrusy flavours and cleansing acidity.
Here is our favourite review of this wine by Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier:
Everything about the nose on this wine speaks of mineral, earth and a sense of place first; the fruit signature suggests apple skin, green and red apple, lemon pith, kaffir leaf and a gentle wild herb note.
Acidity leads the palate only because it is so precise and crisp - it carries the flavors of the fruits and minerals suggested above; perhaps a hint of RS, but a wine that finishes dry; a lovely long finish - not intense, but evocatively alluring.
The Vintage The 2012 growing season was unusually mild mannered. The start of the growing season was early and dry with warm temps, and relatively frost-free (not typical). As Spring progressed, we experienced cooler temps accompanied by rain. Flowering occurred in early December under hot and sunny conditions, and precipitated a relatively fast and uniform fruit set. Mid- Summer was hot, so we welcomed a pattern of cooler weather with occasional refreshing rains as we headed into veraison and Harvest. Overall, it was a relatively easy vintage to control crop level and berry size. Perhaps the hallmark of the vintage for us was the development of flavours at lower sugars, as we were able to harvest grapes in optimal condition just prior to the Easter holiday. 2011 "Pisa Terrace Vineyard" Riesling, suggested retail is $24/bottleOur first Riesling vintage is a wine truly made in the vineyard. It reflects the steep hillside, exposure to wind, stones, and the vine’s struggle to set fruit and ripen it. We were uncertain as to the style of Riesling we would make, including the residual sugar level, right up until Harvest. The subtle fruit, green apple, elusive herb and mineral aspects of the grapes we picked led us to choose a drier style.
The aroma is hard to pinpoint: always showing apple and pear, often with hints of anise and tarragon, and other times mirroring the fragrant horehound and stones abundant on our steep slope. The partial aging in oak puncheon accentuates the minerality, and adds a mouth-filling texture to balance the racy green apple flavours and cleansing acidity.
Here is our favourite review of this wine by Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier:The aroma is fragrant and quite gentle yet full of floral, citrus and white tree fruit suggestions. A Central Otago mineral signature . . . with definitive complexity. A focused, almost electric acidity; mandarin and grapefruit flavors with a mix of apple. The mineral from the nose reappears with a wet stone and chalky quartz flavor. A lovely texture and finish. Not too lengthy, but balanced and well made.
The 2011 Vintage
We spent a lot of time in the vineyard in 2011 trying to get it right. It was a vintage with an unusual rainy pattern. Instead of letting Mother Nature take the upper hand, we worked hard to open the canopy by early shoot thinning and removal of lateral shoots in the fruit zone. The increased air circulation helped us to grow healthy fruit free of mildew and other diseases, a preventative action that reflects our organic approach. In the Riesling block, the young vines were quite exposed with sparse canopy and set very little fruit. The slope was hammered by strong winds throughout the season. The tiny per vine crop size allowed us to make a wine with excellent intensity of aromatics and flavour that we feel reflects the vineyard site well.
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