Commercial description.

Our "Home Block" vineyard, planted over 3 decades ago, is the sole source of this 2022 Forrest Malbec, revealing a captivating mix of boysenberry, chocolate, and coffee notes with a hearty and intense body.

Calatayud, a small appellation in the heart of Arag6n, Spain. A hidden valley and home to the red garnacha grape. A valley where the working conditions are difficult for the farmers. Rough slate soils, old bush vines planted on steep slopes up to 1,100m, hot summers and cold winters where rainfall is scarce and the wind is
always blowing. Furthermore, they have to deal with a fragmented landscape of small parcels and rarely have a successor for their years of hard labour. It's tough and challenging, and yet, they understand the value of their soil and grapes, each plot providing a distinct character to the grape compared to its neighbour. Las Pizarras (the slate soils) is our range showcasing the diversity of the region. Named after the town or plot the grapes originate from, each wine in the collection expresses its unique character, but all are born out of soil, nature and the right human touch.

FABLA is a language used in several places in the north of the autonomic
community of Aragén for over 1.000 years. Today is used by just 12.000 people.

Harvest: End of September, beginning of October
Clasification: Calatayud DO
Grape varieties: 80% Garnacha 20% Syrah
Vinification: Direct incubation and fermentation for 15 days at no more than
16 degrees Celsius to preserve all the fresh fruit of the Garnacha.
Ageing: 30% of the Garnacha is aged 3 months in barrel

TASTING NOTES
Intense cherry red colour. Typical Garnacha with aromas of ripe red fruit,
prunes, figs and some black pepper and minerality.

The pairing suggestion - lamb stew, carrots, courgettes and a couple of black olives

VINEYARDS: Cactus Merlot/Malbec, Lunatic Syrah, Owhiti Malbec, Ponui Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. 

BLEND: Malbec 35%, Merlot 32%, Syrah 28%, Cabernet Franc 5%

WINEMAKING

The vintage of 2023 was a challenging year climatically, very wet and humid with low sunshine hours and periods of intense rain culminating in flooding in late January and Cyclone Gabrielle in early February.  The weather improved for the harvest months, but low sunshine hours resulted in wines with a light elegant touch, fresh, lively and delicious in their delicacy. Our Pinque Rose is harvested from select coastal sites on Waiheke and Ponui Islands made up of individual vineyards planted in Merlot, Malbec and Syrah which are designed with Rose production in mind. Picking early in the season but still showcasing red berry characters, the f ruit is whole bunch pressed in the champagne style liberating only the cleanest and most pure of juice. Fermented cool in stainless steel tanks and blended in the winter. 

TASTING NOTE

Pinque is a pure expression of Rose. Beginning with a classic pale salmon colour the wine has aromas of crushed rose petal, musk candy (pink smokers) strawberry flesh and a maritime scent. The palate is fresh and delicate with shades of stone and citrus fruits with fresh herbs finishing clean, crisp and delicious. 2023 Pinque is an uplifting and refreshing response to a challenging vintage.

Dark crimson in colour, this wine is brooding with a rich, bold, and powerful bouquet of savoury red berry fruit, aromas of sweet raspberries, framboise liqueur and sweet vanilla. Lush, juicy, and very appealing savoury tannins give the wine great texture.

We expect this wine to reward careful cellaring over 7-10 years.

Chateau Larroque is based just outside the 'Graves' appellation in the southern part of Bordeaux.  Made from the classic blend of Bordeaux grapes, and matured for 12 months in French oak before further aging in bottle.

On first opening, medium bodied on the palate, red cherry and dried fruits, toasted almonds with dusty savoury bramble and spice. Once given a chance to breathe opens up to offer generous plump juicy dark fruits, cassis and liquorice.

Superb value for 'left bank' Bordeaux.

75% Grenache + 25% Syrah from sandy light soils at the limit of the slopes of Sablet in the Southern Rhone.

Winemaking: The stems are removed and the Syrah and Grenache are fermented separately over 10 to 15 days in concrete tanks at a temperature of around 25 degrees. The wines is then matured for 3 months in oak.

Tasting: Bright ruby colour. The nose is very aromatic with intense reds fruit, hints of spice and liquorice. The palate is expressive and fleshy and follows suit with the nose.

TASTING NOTES
Aromas of ripe dark berry fruits dominate the nose with hints of spice and mocha notes in the background add complexity. Rich yet soft tannins form the backbone of this succulent and vibrant Pinot Noir. Spice flavours come through on the mid palate along with ripe dark cherry flavours and underlying savoury notes. This is a superbly balanced, elegant and weighted Pinot capable of ageing for up to ten years.

THE VINEYARD
This family owned and operated vineyard is on an old river terrace at the south end of Te Muna Valley. The stony soils with an underlay of limestone, a gentle north facing slope and exposure to westerly winds produce low volume crops of high intensity.

VINIFICATION
All fruit was carefully hand-picked over two vineyard passes. In the winery we destemmed all fruit and fermented in 3T open top tanks. The wine spent between 21 and 23 days on skins including punching down by hand once a day, before being pressed to French oak barrels. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and remained on its lees for ten months before racking, blending and bottling. Indigenous yeasts are used which add to the wine’s complexity in addition to traditional methods of punching down the ferments by hand.

Treixadura (90%), Albariño (5%), Godello (3%), Loureira (2%)

Appearance:  attractive pale yellow , steely border with greenish tinges

Nose: Great intensity with aromas of Fuji Apple and Williams Pear, stone fruit (white plum, lychee, peach).  Subtle notes of yellow flowers which lead to freshly-cut grass, moss, balsamic herbs and a mineral base of riverbed stones and a delicate smokey touch

Palate: Creamy, full entry leading to citrus notes (lemon peel, mandarin) and stone fruit.  Subtle hints of fennel. Vibrant and well-structured.  Powerful yet elegant.  Intense minerality (granite, riverbed stones).  Great character and structure with a long finish.

Food matching:  Shellfish (langoustine, soft shell crab, spider crab), oysters, clams and coastal fish (sole, bream, John Dory). Also poultry and game (rabbit, hare and quail)

This Bourgogne Blanc from La Soeur Cadette is made with Maconnais Chardonnay gapes sourced from the communes of Uchizy and Peronne.

The wine is directly pressed and the juice is transferred to large steel tanks where it remains until ready to bottle (usually about 8 to 10 months). The whites from Cadette are always clean, clear, sharp, energetic and a delight to drink.

Made from a blend of 60% Waiheke and 40% Gisborne Chardonnay grapes, this wine is perfectly balanced with a delicious long finish highlighting the almost 12 months the wine has spent in barrel.

Rich and concentrated with nectarine, lime and passion-fruit with toasty vanilla slight, buttery element and butterscotch undertones.

Light oak aging and fresh, balanced acidity make this chardonnay a must- have. The bouquet is soft with ripe honeydew, rich vanilla and hints of apple skin. The oak aging adds a nice complexity to the mouthfeel, layering zesty spice tones on top of crisp pear and guava flavour. On the back end, flavours of lemon peel meld with the creamy vanilla notes to create a refreshing and savoury finish.

This is fruity yet mineral, with a perfectly balanced body and acidity. It's a blend of Grenache Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and a little-known grape called Terret. Zingy, zesty and full of notes of green apple, kiwifruit and lime zest.

This wine is dry, bright and fresh. It has been barrel fermented and aged to give the slight honey and silky mouth feel.

If you love gris this wine is for you. Perfect for matching with food and will make any wine lovers mouth salivate.

Churton Pinot Noir  

WINEMAKING
The grapes were 100% handpicked and gravity fed into open top fermenters with 20% whole bunch inclusion. The skins were gently pumped over twice a day. The total time on skins was 21 days before being gently pressed off and matured in French oak for 16 months. The wine went through 100% malolactic fermentation in early spring before blending and bottling.


TASTING NOTES
On the nose fragrant and bright aromas of red liquorice, rose petals, dried spices, cranberries, cherries and blackberries. On the palate a core of wild strawberry and bramble fruits flavours is underpinned by silky tannins and fine acidity, with a long, crisp finish of slate and spice. This wine is concentrated but elegant.