From Amoise...

This Pinot Noir (*label information below) was my first pick from the Two Terraces vineyard in the Mangatahi Terraces, Hawke’s Bay.  Ian and Linda Quinn are conscientious and detail oriented growers with the quality of their grapes being exceptional.

After a carbonic maceration, where there is no crushing of the grapes and fermentation occurs within the berries, the wine was pressed to tank and was a beautiful garnet colour. The following day I opened the valve of the tank and much to my surprise a pink hibiscus coloured wine came flowing out! Totally unexpected, and at first I was panicked, but as I tasted the wine I enjoyed the complexity of flavours: red currants, strawberries and pomegranate with a textural finish.

This wine is perfect for summer, I definitely recommend to drink cold or lightly chilled. Also a great food wine! Spicy foods, charcuterie, fish, grilled veggies and cheese. At 11.5% it is your ultimate picnic wine.

No additions at any stage, including sulphur. The wine is unfiltered and unfined. The grapes are certified organic and my rows have been farmed biodynamically since 2020.

After this wine was labelled, we became aware that the grapes used in making this wine, that we believed to be Gamay, were actually Pinot noir. This was identified following DNA testing of the grapevines. While we labelled this wine in good faith, this news means that the label is incorrect, and this wine is actually a Pinot noir. This wine is sold on the basis that the labelled grape variety is incorrect (the label is correct in all other aspects). Due to this unique situation, we are selling our stock that has already been labelled, while making sure that customers are made aware of this issue. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact amy@amoisewines.co.nz.

Matahiwi winemaker Miles Dineen is a dab hand at Syrah. He uses grapes from the sunny Hawke's Bay to produce this outstanding expression of spicy, ripe plum flavours from the gorgeous Syrah grape. 

This wine is top value for money from one of the great Syrah winemakers in this country; it is one of his favourite grapes and we're sure this wine will be too - try it. 

A cheeky ‘chilled red’. Born out of the heartbreaking 2023 vintage in Hawkes Bay, Franco is the lighter, textural iteration of our Howell Vineyard Bridge Pa Cabernet Franc.

Still wishing to support our growers and the region during this difficult time, yet understanding that our ‘house’ style of Cabernet Franc would not suffice, we decided to create a delicious, prettier, chilled version (12%) - ‘Franco’. Garnet in colour. Brimming with notes of earthy wild strawberries. The palate is highly textural, and soft, finishing with bucket loads of flavour and warmth. Serve chilled.

Howell Vineyard, Bridge Pa Hawkes Bay. Red metal soils, densly planted with 27 year old vines at 2315 vines /ha.

A very challenging season. A moderate spring and average temperatures for ripening. Several significant rain events occured toward the end of summer, and the wet conditions continued into Autumn.

The fruit was machine harvested and delivered to the winery. It was destemmed into a small open top fermenter. Once fermentation began, naturally, it was innoculated and plunged twice daily. After fermentation finished it remained on skins for a further week prior to being gently pressed off. It remained in both stainless steel and neutral oak for 8 months and was filtered prior to bottling. Bottled unfined.

The Bugle is a lovely session ale, coming in at 3.5%. 

A modern NZ take on the pub ales of old. Built for balance and drinkability, the Bugle is golden in colour, with a soft malt sweetness and a restrained bitterness. It is lightly hopped with a classic blend of NZ Hops which bring subtle notes of citrus and tropical fruit. 

Fresh, vibrant and fruit centric bouquet of Syrah. Aromas of fresh raspberry, red cherry, balsamic and dried rose petals with a red peppercorn and spice layer. Fresh and vibrant on the palate with flavours that mirror the nose. Medium bodied, plenty of acidity, firm, youthful ripe tannins and a hint of oak to finish.
Vegan - Unfined & Unfiltered - Organically Managed

#N/A

Hot, dry, long and reliable. And that's just the vintage conditions in Hawke's Bay in 2020. This wine is a beautiful expression of a warm vintage with a long summer. Flavours here include blackberry, spice and liquorice which combine to produce a fruit dominant but complex wine. A small inclusion of the white variety Viognier gives the wine beautiful perfume and allows the wine more accessibility while young.

Using the best black currant and blueberries with a little apple to give our Berry Bomb the right amount of zest to ensure the taste explodes.Low in saturated fat, cholesterol & calories. - 5% ABV

One of our favourite wine importers created this tasty, dry, full bodied red from Hawke?s Bay Syrah with the help of talented winemakers. This is a spicy, deep purple, juicy take on the second most planted red in the Bay; Syrah. This wine drinks well now and can age further; try cellaring a couple of bottles for at least five to six years.

THE DRINKING
With hand-picked Chardonnay grapes in late summer, this Blanc de Blancs is a rustic and unfussy wine with a foamy mousse and biscuit and freshly baked bread aromas. It’s refreshing, fruity and perky on the palate with layers of pear, cherry and orange zest. To be enjoyed during the summer months, well chilled to quell that dissolved CO2. Unfiltered and unfined, this is a charming lo-fi natural wine.

THE GROWING
We will always remember 2021 as the perfect vintage for our dry farmed vines; as though I had direct dial to Hughie the weather god, we were blessed with decent dollops of rain at the optimum times during the growing season, much appreciated as our vines were recovering from the drought conditions of 2020. The one brix a week rule book was thrown out the window in 2021 and we had to be on our toes, ready to pick at a moment's notice, as the brix (sugar levels) were rising on a daily basis.

THE MAKING
Hand-picked single clone 95 Chardonnay grapes from our 'Puriri' block were whole bunch pressed and the juice put into a stainless-steel tank where it was cold settled for 24 hours then racked into its fermentation tank. No yeast or additions were made, apart from some organic yeast nutrient, to help to complete the wild ferment. The decision when to bottle is always a challenging one, too much unfermented sugars and you have a too fizzy bottle rocket in your hands, too little sugars and you have all sausage without the sizzle. Much like the picking decision, I had to base my bottling decision on experience, taste and sugar levels. The ferment tank was chilled down to 2 degrees C for 48 hours then lifted onto my trailer, driven back to our vineyard and gravity bottled at Zeelandt Brewery by the same crew who picked the grapes.

TECHNICAL NOTES
PICKING DATE: 4 March 2021
pH: 3.38
ACIDITY: 5.47
RS: 1.34
BOTTLING: 7 April 2021
F(SO2): 8.8T
(SO2): 24