Wine interested motorists travelling through the
Kapiti Coast
over the last couple of years will have seen the establishment of a vineyard at
Ohau, near Te Horo, a drive less than an hour and a half north of Wellington. Bishops Vineyard, is a 22 hectare development
by a group of Horowhenua property investors led by Dave Munro. With the expertise of the well-known and
highly experienced viticulturist Kate Gibbs, the vineyard was planted to 67% Sauvignon
Blanc, 23% Pinot Gris, 8% Pinot Noir and 2% Pinot St Laurent in gravel river
terrace soils similar to that of Marlborough in a climate with sunshine figures
comparable to Nelson. The first harvest
of fruit, this year, was made into wine by the talented Jane Cooper, winemaker
at Matahiwi, in Masterton. Jane has a
proven track record with these varieties, and these first wines, under the Ohau
Gravels label, have garnered instant success, one wine winning a gold and
trophy, and silver medal for another.
Wines that win awards on their first outing indicate a potential
inherent in site and region; the Ohau Gravels label and vignoble is one to keep
an eye on. The total production of ‘Ohau
Gravels’ and second tier ‘Woven Stone’ will be around 14,000 cases when the
Bishops Vineyard site is fully bearing. There
are another 20 ha planted in the same varieties and proportions on the western
side of SH1, in the Strathcarron vineyard, which will bring the total
production to around 40,000 cases. In
addition, another 45 ha are planned for planting next year. This new vignoble seems to be growing at a
tremendous rate and looks very exciting.
We offer and commend the new release Ohau Gravels wines to you:
Ohau
Gravels Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Earning a bronze medal at the Bragato Wine
Awards, then a silver at the N.Z. International Wine Show, this wine is getting
better all the time as it settles in bottle.
Pale straw yellow with youthful green hues, the wine possesses an
intense nose and palate of passionfruit intertwined with herbs, citrus fruits
and minerals. Crisp, dry and refreshing
from the racy acidity, the wine is deliciously mouthwatering and tightly bound,
showing no broadness or coarseness at all.
Its stylecan be seen to be between that of Marlborough and the Wairarapa. This is a hand-picked selection of the best
fruit. (The remainder goes into a second
label, ‘Woven Stone’, which also took silver at Bragato.) 5% of the wine was indigenous yeast fermented
in seasoned oak barrels for increased texture and complexities, and the
resultant wine is 14.0% alc with an imperceptible 3.5 g/l residual sugar. 1,400 cases made.
Ohau
Gravels Pinot Gris 2009
A variety difficult to vinify for character and
balance. The Ohau Gravels wine is an
outstanding example, and it is a credit to the condition of the fruit and the
sensitive winemaking to get it right straight away. Hand-picked fruit, gentle pressing and an
inoculated yeast selected solely for Pinot Gris was used; the wine having lees
contact until bottling. 14.0% alc with
10.8 g/l residual sugar. Pale straw
yellow in colour, this has an excellent bouquet of fresh white stonefuits with
florals and spices. The palate is lively
and invigorating with an elegant structure, and real depth of fruit
intensity. The richness of the tropical
fruit and spice flavours add to the apparent sweetness, but this is superbly
counterpoised by the good acidity. A
bronze at the N.Z. International Wine Show, this wine starred at the Bragato
Wine Awards as a gold medal winner, also taking the Brother Cyprian Trophy for
Champion Pinot Gris. Only 570 cases were
made.