Great white pays homage to Canterbury and France
Quirky white blends are de rigeuer in wine right now but very few are actually made from grapes that are grown together, harvested together and fermented together, as this field blend is. It's an exotic mix of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat, inspired by the great white field blends of Marcel Deiss in the Alsace region of north east France.
This wine is the brainchild of Mountford Estate winemaker CP Lin, who suggested making this four grape field blend to the original owners of Mountford Estate, Michael and Buffy Eaton, who planted a portion of their vineyard in these four noble white varieties. The result is this rich and tasty field blend, a beautifully balanced, medium dry wine which varies in dryness each vintage, as a response to the conditions delivered by Mother Nature. The wine is given skin contact (soaking) for nearly a week before fermentation. This provides colour and flavour to the juice, which is then co-fermented in stainless steel.
Residual sugar varies each year as a response to vintage, ripeness levels in the grapes and the overall balance provided by Mother Nature. It's determined primarily by taste as a response to season, says winemaker CP Lin, who has been strongly involved in the winemaking at Mountford from the early days til now.
Mountford Estate is a special place, established on limestone laden soils in 1991 by Buffy and Michael Eaton who chose the site in Waipara for its elevation and active limestone. The wines are made by CP Lin, who has worked in the vineyard and winery since the early days when he became a close friend of the Eatons and a devotee of this great vineyard site and region.