Iridium is a dark and juicy red with great structure for drinking now and it's a keeper. It is made from The Boneline vineyard's and some of New Zealand's oldest Cabernet vines, which grow at the winery's natural amphitheatre on the banks of the Waipara river, which is a heat trap during North Canterbury's dry summers. This site is well suited to ripening late growing grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. All grapes are hand picked, hand sorted and slow fermented before being matured for 18 months in French oak.

Waimanu Pinot Noir has savoury flavours of freshly picked mushrooms and a firm backbone of fresh acidity and smooth tannins. The grapes in this wine benefit from hot days, cool nights and more than anyone's fair share of wind - as they grow on North Canterbury’s most western vineyard where wind is frequent and harsh, creating a drying environment. Smooth, silky flavours of intensely concentrated ripe cherries and complex earthy spice aromas of cardamon, nutmeg and hints of smoky flavours.  

This wine is made exclusively with hand harvested fruit from the 18 year old vines on the Blackenbrook Home block where the vines grow on Moutere clay soil covered by a layer of sandy loam. The wine making is extremely gentle with whole bunch pressing, cool fermentation, minimal pumping over, extended lees contact and using gravity to move the wine when required.

8% of the wine is aged in oak to add mouthfeel and complexity and there is no fining pre-bottling.

 At 5.7g/l of residual sugar this is dry in style.

Tasting Notes
Our Blackenbrook Pinot Gris 2019 displays delightful pear, quince and spice notes framed by a silky texture, a splash of sweetness and gentle acidity. Ideal serving temperature 15 degrees.

Silver - New Zealand Wine of the Year Awards

4 1/2 Stars Michael Cooper

This powerful wine is still very youthful. It has strong peach, pear, lychee and spice flavours with a distinct touch of complexity, slight sweetness balanced by fresh acidity and a scented bouquet.

This Sauvignon Blanc is all about precision and feel. Bright notes of green apple and fennel glide over a chalk-dusted, subtly creamy core.

A firm mineral seam underpins the wine, while layers of grapefruit zest and savoury tomato leaf build in complexity. It tapers to a dry, grainy finish with an almost tactile grip.

One of the great dry Rieslings of North Canterbury, a region with a long dry autumn that typically results in concentrated citrus flavours of ripe lemon zest and notes of green apple, which stretch out to a lingering vibrant finish in this memorably delicious wine. It typically contains 4 grams residual sugar per litre (firmly in the dry camp) each year, including in this new release from the 2019 vintage. The wine is made from grapes harvested at 20.5 brix from low cropping land (2.2 tonnes per hectare). This Riesling is made from a vineyard planted on the Glasnevin Gravels. All grapes are hand picked, whole bunch pressed to stainless steel and fermented with a neutral yeast strain then aged on lees until bottled in late summer following harvest. 

This wine drinks beautifully now as a youthful, refreshing dry white and also ages superbly for five to six years, potentially longer in good cellar conditions.

A sturdy, mid-weight red showing layers of raspberry, black cherry, and a hint of liquorice. Smoky oak and a core of stony minerality add depth, while firm, drying tannins provide structure and grip. It’s a bold, slightly untamed style that promises to reward a few years tucked away in the cellar.

Vinification

All fruit is estate grown organically, with the majority of the clone being Mendoza. All our Chardonnay is hand harvested and whole-bunch pressed,
but they are lightly crushed first, this allows the juice to be extracted at very low pressures. Each parcel of fruit is kept separate and vinified and aged
individually. The juice is allowed to oxidise pre-ferment which makes the final wine more vibrant, long-lived and intensely flavoured as finished wine.
All parcels take most of the lees from pressing to barrel for wild fermentation and are aged in French oak with 25% being new. To keep the structure of
this wine, we allowed only 50% of the barrels to go through spontaneous malolactic fermentation, with no battonage. The total time in barrel is about
10 months before being combined into one blend in mid-February, The wine stays in stainless steel tank for 6 months on lees which allows for the acid
to become precisely defined and adds texture - then finished with no fining and only gentle filtration.

Wine
Green gold with silver flecks.
Aromas of grapefruit, orange zest, grilled white stonefruits, chared applewood with underlying peach blossom and oystershell.
Fresh citrus dominates with crunchy nectarine, crystalized pineapple, sweet baking spice and a saline minerality in support. A fine acid structure is
coated with a silky texture to give a long complex finish.

This off-dry Pinot Blanc is aromatic and pleases the senses with layer of jasmine, pear, and gentle vanilla spice. Extended time on lees, combined with a little sweetness adds richness and complexity to the mouthfeel that still leave a refreshing finish

A razor-sharp Riesling that keeps its cards close to its chest. Flint and citrus peel edge around a core of dry, chiselled fruit, while subtle spice lingers in the background. Brisk acidity slices through, creating a taut, electric structure. Beneath it all, the first whispers of smoky sweetness and mellow honey hint at what’s to come. It wraps up with a firm, grippy finish that leaves a lasting impression.

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.

A lively and generous Pinot from the Moutere Clay soils.  Aromas of bright cherries and spice are complemented with fine tannins, a long finish, and a slight earthy tone. A delicious Nelson Pinot Noir.

Vinification

Our Estate grown grapes are hand harvested, then whole bunch pressed gently over several hours. The must settled overnight before being racked off gross solids taking only fluffy lees. Fermentation is allowed to proceed slowly at low temperature and stopped when the sugar, acid, alcohol and phenolics are in balance. We hold the wine at a cool temp for the remainder of it’s time in the cellar to retain its natural co2 spritz from primary ferment. The wine is racked and spends 6 months on fine lees before bottling.

Wine

Pale green gold and silver streaks. Delicate notes of apple blossom, honeysuckle, mandarin zest with mineral undertones.On the palate - lime oil, fleshy stone fruits, ripe red delicious and tangerine peel. Bright acidity gives the palate freshness and is balanced with generous fruit sweetness. These aspects are accentuated by the natural spritz retained from fermentation which give a lift in the midpalate. The reprise is long and lingering with a satisfyingly crisp clensing texture.

Tech

Parcel 1: Picked 31/03/23 pH: 2.96 TA: 9.20 Brix: 20.5

Parcel 1: Picked 04/04/23 pH: 2.92 TA: 9.20 Brix: 21.7

Final Wine: Bottled 28/03/24 pH: 2.86 TA: 8.17 Alc: 10.3% RS 27.8g/L