Matahiwi's top and most full bodied Pinot Noir from its home block vineyard on a raised gravel ridge east of Masterton. This wine is dark and has great depth and structure thanks to being made from 50% of the impressive Abel clone; the greatest Pinot Noir variant in New Zealand and all given whole cluster fermentation in this wine to add structure, accentuate dark fruit flavours and a complex note of spice. Unfined. Vegan.

Holly is a gorgeous dark fruit expression of Pinot Noir made from a blend of grapes grown on top quality vineyard blocks at Matahiwi Estate in the northern Wairarapa. This vintage was a warm, dry one, which produced high quality grapes, which result in this beautifully balanced, full bodied, spicy and dark fruited Pinot Noir. Hand picked grapes and meticulous attention in the vineyard create great raw material which translates into a silky, gorgeous Wairarapa Pinot Noir to drink now. 

Celestia is the apt name for one of Martinborough's most structured, serious and age worthy Pinot Noirs made using 100% whole bunch fermentation, a technique that adds structure and depth to the wine. This is the first vintage of this wine is from the superlative 2020 vintage and name comes from the big sky views from Big Sky Vineyard in Te Muna Valley, Martinborough. Celestia Pinot Noir is made with 100% whole bunch fermentation in seasoned puncheons with ageing for two years. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered. The result is a very perfumed wine with aromas of rosehips, black tea, black fruit and undergrowth, with a dense and dark palate, fine tannins and a satiny texture.

The Big Sky story

Jeremy Corban and Katherine Jacobs founded Big Sky Wines in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough, in 2005. They have since expanded their small vineyard, which is predominantly planted in Pinot Noir.

This wine is firm, full bodied and full of fruit character with black cherries and spice leading the flavour notes here. This great southern red from winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis at Rockburn in Central Otago. Five clones of Pinot Noir (10/5, 5, 6, Abel, 115 and 777) were harvested from two sub regions of Otago; Gibbston and Parkburn then fermented in large open tonne fermenters with the finished wine spending 10 months in French oak, 33% new. 

Serious and structured Pinot Noir from one of Martinborough's oldest wineries and a tiny vineyard. This beautiful young wine is all about dry, savoury and earthy flavours balanced by vibrant ripe dark cherry fruit and spicy depth. It's a great drink now and will age superbly for up to 10 years. 

Roger Parkinson is was one of the first winemakers in Martinborough and produces this exceptional Pinot Noir from a small 0.8 hectare vineyard known as Lease Block, which is situated on Huangarua Road. This is Martinborough?s golden mile of wineries and vineyards. The small site was planted in 1999 in 100% Pinot Noir clone 5, 115, and 10/5.This wine is made with 15% whole bunch fermentation, maceration for 22 days and maturated in French oak, 33% new for 20 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, this wine is vegan friendly.

Viticulture 

Grapes sourced from our own Fromm Vineyard (5.1%), from Churton Vineyard in the Waihopai Valley (18.8%) and from two sites in the Brancott Valley, Yarrum (25.4%) and Wrekin (50.7%). No herbicides, pesticides or systemic fungicides used. Only approved natural fertiliser applied. All vineyards certified organic (BioGro).  

Winemaking 

Hand-picked between March 16th and 31st. 100% destemmed while retaining a high portion of whole berries. Selected parcels from each vineyard were individually fermented on “wild” yeast and vinified into single vineyard wines, providing the blending components for this Cuvée. Average time on skins between 14 and 28 days. Matured for approximately 14 to 18 months in French oak barrels (less than 10% new). 

Wine facts

Grape variety  Pinot Noir

Bottled   March 2022 under cork at FROMM Winery

Labelled and packed at FROMM Winery

Production  7044 bottles and 18 magnums

Cellaring potential 2036

Winemaker  Hätsch Kalberer

Store   10° – 14° Enjoy   16° – 18° 

Wine analysis  Alcohol   13.5%

Total acidity  4.6 g/l pH   3.63

Residual sugar  less than 1 g/l 

Winemaker’s comments - Dense, deep red colour. The nose is concentrated yet fragrant with dark fruit aromas, complex, focused and very expressive. On the palate again concentration without being heavy. An elegant Pinot Noir with beautiful transparency, excellent structure and tension and very fine tannin support in the finish, reflecting one of our most exciting vintages since 2010. 

Food match - Beautiful with venison, wild game, beef, lamb, vegetarian dishes, cheese and charcuterie, chocolate, raspberries and strawberries.

The evocative name Ruru pays homage to the native Moreporks, whose haunting call can be heard in the vineyard in which the grapes in this wine grow. This is a gorgeous expression of dry Pinot Gris from Central Otago, a region that is well suited to top notch examples of this white grape variety. The cool climate suits this grape well, resulting in refreshingly crisp examples. 

This is a wonderfully exotic wine with aromas of flowers, pear and melon. The palate has nectarine and tropical fruit richness which is balanced with a smooth refreshing finish. Great on its own this Pinot Gris is incredibly versatile with a variety of food, our favourites being chilled furry peach and red curry mussels.

Vineyard
Fruit for this wine was selected from mature vineyards in the North Island that consistently produce outstanding Pinot Gris grapes. The 2021 vintage has delivered exceptional quality with low yields and a temperate dry growing season producing clean ripe fruit with great flavor intensity.

Winemaking
The focus in the winery is to capture the pure fruit flavours that come in from the vineyard. The grapes were harvested at optimum ripeness then gently pressed and the juice fermented at cool temperatures with selected yeasts to enhance aromatic potential. After ferment the wine rested on lees to enhance mouthfeel before blending and preparation for early bottling.

Amber is made with an unusual technique for white wine. White grapes are fermented on skins, as one would for a red, left to macerate for the winter, then pressed the following spring. No fining, no filtering. The result is a complex and textured wine, naturally cloudy, with body, and plenty of soul.

Here's a Chardonnay with the Midas touch; it's big, it's smooth and it's creamy as anything with all the bells and delicious whistles that Chardonnay lovers enjoy. It's  made with grapes grown on the Howell's Vineyard in Hawke's Bay, a site that seems to provide the magic ingredients of deliciousness in a wide range of varietals grown on it. 

Potiki is Maori for 'last born' and is the apt and evocative name for the newest Chardonnay from Ata Rangi in Martinborough. Fleshy, full bodied and bone dry (as the best Chardonnays are), this is a stunning new wine with richness and balanced acidity adding length to every crisp and succulent sip.

TASTING NOTE

The Marlborist Chardonnay is a rich, dry elegant wine that is both intricate and textural with an enticing combination of roasted hazelnuts, brioche, citrus blossom and golden-queen peach with hints of clove spice and vanilla. This is a finely balanced wine with a creamy palate underpinned by a long, citrus finish. 

VITICULTURE

Fruit was sourced from two exceptional vineyards; The Wrekin in the Brancott Valley, a beautiful biodynamic and organic-certified hillside vineyard where clone 95 chardonnay is grown on clay loam soils and Cable Bay Vineyard in the lower Awatere Valley, where high density old Mendoza clone vines are grown on a stony, alluvial terrace. The combination of free-draining soils and naturally low yields allowed the vines to ripen small, golden bunches of intensely flavoured fruit. 

WINEMAKING

Picking commenced on March 27th at the Wrekin and finished on April 6th at Cable Bay, from where the fruit was transported directly to the winery where the grapes were gently whole-bunch pressed to a mixture of French oak barrels and puncheons (15% new). A portion was chilled overnight before pressing to oak the next morning. Spontaneous fermentation by indigenous, ‘wild’ yeast, took place at ambient temperatures, a process that took several months to complete. Occasional lees stirring and a full malolactic fermentation occurred before the wine was transferred out of oak after 15 months. Each batch was left on lees and kept separate until June when the blend was assembled and settled prior to bottling in July.

Fermented on skins for 190 days this wine is grown traditionally and fermented without intervention. Apure expression of the Opou Vineyard, home to Chardonnay for 50 years.

? BioGro Certified Organic 

? Demeter Certified Biodynamic 

? Grown and bottled on the Property

? Dry farmed 

? Unfined. Contains no animal products.

Fabulous Chardonnay from Karl Johner's vineyard at Gladstone in the central Wairarapa, a cool climate which accentuates the crisp fresh acidity that balances the full bodied, creamy nuances in this lovely wine. 

Great value for money and a wine that combines creamy flavours with freshness.