Esk Valley

Versatile, refreshing and incredibly age worthy. Chenin Blanc is one of the great grapes of the wine world for all these qualities and more and this one is made with grapes grown on Ian Quinn?s Two Terraces vineyard in Mangatahi, Hawke's Bay. Quinn, the grape grower, is an unapologetic devotee of Chenin Blanc, which he supplies to several passionate winemakers, including Gordon Russell of Esk Valley. 

Russell ferments this Chenin in stainless steel, maturing it in a concrete egg for six months on fine lees. It's dry in taste and literally just off dry in style with residual sugar of 5.8 grams per litre. 

New Zealand?s climate is exceptionally well suited to this stunning classic French white grape variety, as winemakers such as Gordon Russell of Esk Valley, has shown for decades through his passionate perseverance with this lively white grape. 

Chenin Blanc is one of the world's most versatile grape varieties because it can be used to make bone dry, full bodied whites, which both France and South Africa specialise in and it can also make super succulent sweeties. The grape's naturally high acidity adds balancing freshness to wines made from it, which retain a brightness and lively style. 

This is an outstanding new addition to the much loved Esk Valley stable and it successfully straddles the big buttery Chardonnay style with all the subtleties that wine fans adore about the Chardonnay grape too - namely, its crisp, freshness. 

It is part of the new Esk Valley Artisanal Collection wines, which were launched this year and this one is made from clone 95 vines in Hawke’s Bay. The grapes were fermented in French oak with wild yeasts, which gives this wine its rich and nutty flavours, its seductive savoury notes and its full body.

The finished wine went through 50% malolactic fermentation with lees stirring to accentuate and lift the big flavours in this big wine.

An absolute show stopper dry white wine made from the great Albarino grape - this wine has succulence, body and intense lemon, hazelnut and oatmeal flavours, all of which add to its full bodied appeal.
Thick skinned grapes in loose bunches with tiny berries are the story of the great white Albarino grape. These factors make it ideally suited to New Zealand?s maritime climate, which is similar to that of its homelands in north west Portugal and Spain. This grape?s intense acidity and later ripening combine to make a full bodied, dry, intensely deliciously succulent, refreshing white.
Winemaker Gordon Russell softens the high acidity by ageing the wine for one year in bottle in the cellar, pre release. He's also learning about optimum picking times, since it's still pretty early days for Albarino in New Zealand.

A great Syrah made from grapes grown onto different sites in the Gravels, including clay soils and limestone soils, which provide different depths of flavour and complexity to the grapes. The wine is deep purple in colour and flavour with approachable floral prettiness and appeal supported by notes of clove, one of the hallmarks flavours of Syrah. The finished wine was aged for 17 months in French oak, includes small 228 litre and larger 500 & 600 litre puncheons, 29% new.

This is a complex spicy little number with deliciously approachable smoothness and body. A welcome new addition to winemaker Gordon Russell's Esk Valley wines.

Full bodied, creamy and toasty with flavours of oatmeal, spice and fresh macadamias. This big white has all the bells and whistles and is made with grapes grown on the coast at Bay View north of Napier. All grapes were hand picked, fermented with wild yeasts in French oak, which softens the edgy acidity, adding notes of spice, cedar and hints of oak, all of which provide weight, making this wine super rich and flavoursome. It suits roast chicken or spaghetti carbonara; vegetarian or with a little meat but either way, served with a squeeze of fresh lemon, olive oil, pepper and parmesan.

Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon combine in this outstanding full bodied dry and powerful blend, which is made from hand picked grapes grown in the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District’s Cornerstone and Ngakirikiri vineyards. 

The grapes were fermented with wild yeasts, which provides diverse depth and flavours to the wine, which has flavour notes of black olives, dried herbs and black currant notes. The wine was aged in French oak for 20 months and bottled unfiltered, which accentuates its gritty, smooth, powerful cedar notes.

Here is a wine for the long term cellar... Or decant and enjoy now.

This new addition to the Esk Valley stable of wines is a lighter, more fragrant expression of Syrah, which represents a bit of a style departure from its siblings made from grapes grown on the Gimblett Gravels.
In this case, the wine is made from grapes grown on a 1.1 hectare vineyard at the top of The Terraces Vineyard at Bay View, just north of Napier city. The warmth of the limestone soils and the cooling sea breezes combine to ripen Syrah grapes slowly with hot days and cool nights, providing floral aromas supported by depth of dark fruit, black olive and fleshy red fruit notes. All grapes were hand picked and fermented as a mix of whole cluster bunches and destemmed fruit in a single concrete fermenter with wild yeasts. 

It?s made in small volumes and will age for up to and beyond 10 years.