Fabulous Pinot Noir with amazing depth of flavour especially at this price; a wine that really puts Marlborough's best foot forward thanks to winemaker Rebecca Salmond, who sources grapes from the region's Southern Valleys. Flavours are of ripe cherry, blackberry and spice lead into a lovely, elegant yet weighty palate with superb fruit ripeness and intensity. This wine will continue to age for two years plus and pairs well with lighter red meat dishes.

Commercial description

The ancient, dark-skinned grape variety from Georgia delivers wines that command attention and, at our tiny yield level, devotion. At such concentration, Saperavi with its natural high level of fruit sugar, tannin and acidity turns in a seductive powerhouse like no other wine. Complex, multi-dimensional, structured, and elegant - a wine to truly cherish.

This wine will bring the most critical wine lover to wine heaven. The gorgeous intense, inky colour metamorphoses into a savoury lusciousness. One of the tasting team called it a sexy Georgian in a glass. Deep, rich and packed with black fruit almost jumping out of the glass. Maturing in new barrels refined the powerful tannins to a classy elegance. Rich and complex, multi-layered with an staggering backbone of fruit, acidity and tannin, each sip giving you more and more pleasure. A dazzling wine experience for a wine to cherish. Tasted July 2022.

“Offering good value, made from hand-harvested grapes from the estate’s younger vines and matured for one year in French Oak.  Full, bright ruby, mouthfilling, generous and supple.   Cherry, plum, spice and slight tamarillo flavours with savoury notes adding complexity and fresh acidity to keep things lively.  At best mid-’26.  A ‘serious’ but approachable wine” 

Michael Cooper

Bright, classy and immensely satisfying. The twelve months in barrel have only enhanced the fruity punch of pineapple, peach, and grapefruit all balanced to a fine richness that lasts on the palate.

Simply add a succulent roast chicken with all the trimmings for a relaxing night in.

WINEMAKING NOTES
This wine is a blend of 5 clones of Gewürztraminer each bringing their own distinct characteristics to this aromatic blend. Beautifully ripe fruit was harvested over several picks from late March through to early May. With minimal skin contact the juice was pressed off to tank and divided up into different ferments. The juices were cool fermented using a variety of different yeasts to get the best out of the Gewürztraminer aromatics. Racked and aged on light lees for 6 months prior to blending.

ANALYSIS
pH 3.50
TA 5.0 g/l
RS 7.2 g/l
Alcohol 14.0%

TASTING NOTES
Intense aromatics of ginger and spice, orange blossom and classic Turkish delight and lychee notes. The palate is rich and textured with tangelo and white peach flavours. With beautifully balanced acidity, this wine is dry and has a wonderfully long and full flavoured finish. An excellent match for Asian cuisine.

AWARDS
Gold Medal & Best In Class – Gewürztraminer Regional Aotearoa Wine Competition

Gold NZIWS

Gold London Wine Competition

WINEMAKING NOTES

The fruit for this wine is a blend of Mendoza (42%), Clone 548 (24%), Clone 15 (21%) and Clone 95 (12%) grown on the sandy silt soils of the lower terrace of the Askerne vineyard. Hand-picked and whole bunch pressed, the juice was transferred to barrel for fermentation. The barrels were a mixture of both wild and inoculated ferments and completed 100% malolactic post ferment.  The wine was subsequently aged for 10 months with lees stirring to add volume and complexity. The final blend has a 29% new French oak component, and 15% 2nd fill.

ANALYSIS

pH 3.43
TA 5.4g/L
Alc 13.5%
RS 2.6g/L

TASTING NOTE

Sweet scented with peach, lemon and hints of tropical pineapple, layered with complex notes of coconut, honied nuts and baked fruits.  The palate has wonderful concentration with tropical and stonefruit flavours on a backbone of rich oak spice and vibrant citrus acidity giving generous length.

AWARDS

Silver NZIWS

93 Points Wine Orbit

Grape: Chardonnay 

Soil: Steep slopes composed of a sandy marl and limestone.

Age of the vines: 31 years old

Maceration Process: Whole bunch pressed, lightly crushed. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrels, "sur lies" without "batonnage".

Pressing: Pneumatic press

Total elevage: 14 months 

Oak used: 25% New french oak  from Tronçais and Allier forests. Light and long soft toast.

Operations performed during ageing: One racking before bottling

 Filtration:  ining followed by light filtration

Biodynamic. 

100% Cabernet Franc. 

Germain’s calling card is drawn from the domaine’s many parcels in Saumur. These varied sites grow on tuffeau/limestone soils around the communes of Varrains, Chaintres, Dampierre and Saumur. The vines range from 10 to 70 years old (with the average at around 30) and include the domaine’s ‘home’ vineyard, Le Clos, a site ploughed by the family’s Ardennais draft horse. Germain harvests by hand, employs cold soak infusion for some parcels and carries out the wild yeast fermentation and maturation mostly in tank. Aside from a minor 10 ppm SO2 at bottling, the wine sees no additions. Packed with youthful Saumur joie de vivre, this is a pure, elegantly floral red with perfumed dark cherry, anise and graphite notes and a juicy, supple, mouthwatering personality that pairs beautifully with cheese, paté, pork chops and roast chicken. In other words, the perfect bistro wine (that goes with every course)! The colour of the label this year is a kind of bluish slate.

From Skypunch vineyard, which lies on the slope next to Home vineyard on Black’s Ave.  We’re leasing and managing  Julianne and Conor’s vineyard here and we’re excited.  In conversion to organic with BioGro 5202.

Aromas of preserved lemon citrus, flint, almond, cardamon, and ginger. The palette is structured and vibrant with unique saline tension. Flavours of new season pear and apricot, white peach and vanilla bean. Un-fined, unfiltered.

Savitar is one of the great Shirazes from McLaren Vale, made with grapes grown on the Lopresti Vineyard's Chinese Block, located at the south end of McLaren Vale, about four kilometres east of the coastal town of Port Willunga. The vines struggle here, producing low yields of fruit with tiny berries which are full of black fruit flavours with dried herb, black olives and an earthy structure of dark smokiness, making this a power packed wine. 

It's named after a mythological dragon like creature, in homage to this wine's bold flavours and powerful length. It's an impressive wine for now and will undoubtedly age for the long haul - think a decade at least. 

The winemaking

Grapes for Savitar Shiraz are selected by hand from the Lopresti Vineyard in McLaren Vale, a site where they struggle and deliver in small volumes. This is regarded as outstanding raw material. They are fermented and the wine pressed before being transferred to oak barrels where it remains on light lees for 18 months before blending. 

Grape varieties: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

Tasting notes:

Deep ruby red colour with violet highlights. Fruit driven with aromas of black cherry and blueberry. Delicate notes of mint, black pepper and liquorice appear when agitated. Good texture on the palate with ripe tannins. Long finish. Full, fresh, dense and silky mouthfeel.

Food matches: Tuna in red wine sauce, steak “Bordelaise” grilled on vine stalks, Pyreneens cheese with dark cherry marmalade; Serve between 16° and 18° C.

Winemaking: Traditional winemaking methods with a minimum of 6 months of ageing in French oak barrels. De-stalked grapes – alcoholic fermentation in vats at high temperature (30-32°C) with daily pumping over – maceration (3 weeks) – malolactic fermentation in vats.

Soil: Sandy and gravelly.
Climate: Oceanic, mild and humid.
Aging: The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 6 months.

Aromas and flavours of green apple and lemon peel, honey suckle and butterscotch. The palate is rich yet refreshing and the mouthfeel is delicate yet persistent.

Meticulously crafted in exceptionally limited quantities, this is the second release of Whitehaven's 'Samantha' Cuvée, a wine which celebrates Greg and Sue’s daughter Samantha, as she continues the legacy that her parents created together.

This elegant Méthode Traditionnelle is sustainably produced, from 100% Marlborough Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit (Chardonnay dominant) and is produced in accordance with Méthode Traditionnelle practices. Enjoy crisp, dry, delicate flavours balanced with lees age derived complexity, finishing fine, clean and long.

Produced in very limited quantities, this is the perfect bubbles to share with friends or to celebrate a special occasion.