The Craft
No great things are created suddenly.
The beginnings of all things are small
Chenin Blanc
2018 HAWKE’S BAY
Chenin Blanc is not widely grown in Hawke’s Bay buy I think it has the potential to be a classic here. A traditional French grape, Chenin Blanc is bright, dry and sophisticated, the one I have always loved drinking.
My wine is elegant and fresh, bursting with stone fruit, honey and apple.
WINEMAKING
Handpicked, wild ferment, it started off ferment in my stainless steel Egg tank, and then down to barrel to finish. I left on gross Lees for six months, then the wine was transferred out and returned to barrel for another 12 months aging. I stirred each barrel once a month to give a lovely depth of flavour. It was bottled in November 2019 and bottle aged for 6 months before release.
TASTING NOTES
Light golden-yellow colour. The nose is fresh, pure and expressive with white florals and stonefruit aromas, apple and citrus notes. This lovely medium-bodied wine has an elegantly concentrated core of white florals, apple, stonefruit and citrus notes. The palate possesses a fine structure and balance, the textures and acidity flow through to the taut finish.
TECHNICAL SPECS
Winemaker: Darragh Hughes
Vineyard: Soler Vineyard, Hawke’s Bay
Alcohol: 12.8%
RS: 2-3g
Free Sulphur: 30mg/l at bottling
Quantity: 145 x 6 packs
RRP: $34.00
WHERE TO BUY
National trade inquiries please contact angie@blancnz.co.nz Blanc Distribution www.blancnz.co.nz Hawke's Bay trade inquiries please contact darragh@maximwines.co.nz It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together
Syrah
2020 HAWKE’S BAY - Two Terraces Vineyard
The Two Terraces Vineyard is located approximately 35km inland, in the Mangatahi Terraces subregion of Hawke's Bay. Over the past 15,000 years, the nearby Ngaruroro River has laid down some spectacular terraces, with shallow stony silt loams over red metals. As well as being shaped by the river, the soils also contain volcanic deposits from past eruptions on the volcanic plateau in the central North Island.
The slightly elevated inland location results in long warm-hot days balanced by cooler nights, ensuring ripe fruit while retaining freshness. The Syrah is planted in a part of the vineyard that is particularly sheltered and warm, with a stonier soil profile.
WINEMAKING
The fruit was hand-picked and gently destemmed without crushing into open-top fermenters for fermentation with daily plunging to extract flavour, colour and tannin. Once pressed the wine was matured in 228L French oak barriques for 10 months prior to blending and bottling. The wine is un-fined and un-filtered.
2020 was an exceptional Hawkes Bay vintage, particularly for reds. Moderate yields combined with warmer than average temperatures and dry settled conditions encouraged the majority of the fruit across the region to achieve optimum ripeness and maintain excellent condition through to harvest. This wine is a single vineyard from Two Terraces Vineyard.
TASTING NOTES
Deep purple and crimson hues lead to a perfumed nose of violet, black fruit, herb and spice aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, supple and silky in texture, featuring wonderfully integrated tannins. Pure fruit flavours lead the wine to a lengthy finish.
TECHNICAL SPECS
Winemaker: Darragh Hughes
Vineyard: Two Terraces Vineyard, Hawke’s Bay
Alcohol: 13.2%
RS: 0g
Free Sulphur: 20mg/l at bottling
Quantity: 150 x 6 packs
RRP: $38.00