Fruit aromas of blackcurrant, dark cherries and plums unfold from the glass, combined with hints of dried herbs. The palate is very complex and enticing with a beautiful, smooth texture and a firm structure. Flavours of very ripe fruit, minerals, subtle leafiness and rosewood. The supporting role of the oak intensifies underlying dark chocolate and toasty characters.

The first thing you will notice is the intense aroma of this wine with notes of citrus and tropical fruits. These flavours follow through on the palate, where the wild fermentation in barrel adds great weight and texture to the wine.

Meticulous handling and low yield farming create an elegant, concentrated Riesling from Central Otago producer, Prophet's Rock. Vinification methods used in this wine draw heavily from Alsatian winemaking. This is a wine rich with lemon and floral notes, with an underlying mineral backbone. 

The Bilancia Syrah is sourced from a single vineyard on Roy's Hill, Hawke's Bay. This is a very fruit forward, bright wine with floral complexity on the nose and a spicy, youthful palate.

This Syrah shows dark fruit with a touch of cracked pepper and soft, approachable tannins on the palate. This wine is supple and well balanced, and will continue to develop for 4-6 years in the cellar.

The grapes in this wine come from the Yarrum Vineyard on the Brancott/Ben Morven ridge, a hillside from which all grapes are hand harvested and fermented with wild yeasts and daily plunging. This rich, dark, full bodied and flavoursome Pinot Noir has huge structure and ability to age, with earthy notes and ripe dark fruit flavours. This is one of Marlborough’s top Pinot Noirs. Worthy of a decanter, a large glass and time to enjoy its complexity.

A textural style Sauvignon that is layered and complex, with a racy mineral backbone, thanks to the alluvial gravels of the Martinborough terrace and the unique growing conditions of Martinborough.

W I N E M A K E R S   N O T E 

From the exceptional 2024 vintage this is our first release of Sauvignon Blanc under the Escarpment label. Fermentation was conducted in a range of stainless-steel tanks, along with 20% in French Oak puncheons, 2% of the blend in new oak and a small portion fermented on skins. A mix of indigenous and inoculated yeast were used. Aged for 6 months before bottling.  This is a Sauvignon that showcases sophistication and texture, along with a limey/mineral backbone that gives great length and purity, and a moreish finish that will have you reaching for another glass.

T A S T I N G 

Gooseberry, nettle and guava are accompanied by lifted white floral notes, with the fruit sitting in the tropical spectrum. The palate is hinged together by textural elements that are balanced by restrained, but intense, fruit weight. There is a lovely seam of limey acidity that brings drive and offers a long lingering finish to the wine. It showcases the minerality and purity we get in white wines grown on the alluvial gravels.

Vineyard Sites - Cornerstone Vineyard lies at the heart of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural region, strategically positioned at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50 in Hawke’s Bay. This area is celebrated as New Zealand’s premier Bordeaux red grape-growing region, and it’s easy to see why. The vineyard’s unique terroir, composed of riverbed stones and gravels, challenges the vines, leading them to produce a limited yield of small, intensely coloured, and flavourful berries. The resulting grapes give rise to wines with rich, mouth-filling tannins and a depth of character that speaks to the harsh yet rewarding growing conditions. 

Vinification - The grapes were carefully handpicked, then crushed and fermented in small 3-tonne open fermenters. Each batch was hand-plunged and allowed varying periods of post-ferment skin contact to enhance complexity and structure. After pressing off, the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged in a mix of French (90%) and American (10%) oak barriques, adding subtle layers of flavour and depth. 

Tasting Notes - Enticing aromas of freshly sanded wood, new leather, anise, and spice draw you in. On the palate, sweet dark red fruits, plums, and berry pie flavours shine through. Grippy, robust, dry tannins balance a smooth, sweet, slightly charry oak profile. This wine is drinking well now but will develop even more complexity with ageing.

Commercial description

Immediately appealing on the nose showing dark cherry, roasted nut, game, warm mushroom and rich floral aromas. The palate delivers terrific weight and richness, splendidly supported by velvety texture and layers of polished tannins. Graceful and harmonious with an impressive long silky finish.

Commercial description

With our Chardonnay we give a maceration of the whole bunches before pressing which increases the amount of grape solids in the juice to give greater intensity of varietal character and structure. Once fermentation is finished we add small amounts of sulphur at each topping to preserve the freshness and fruitfulness of the wine. We do not stir the lees or allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation. 

Man O’ War Chardonnay exhibits intense ripe stone fruit characters with subtle hints passionfruit seed and a nutty lees influence.

The long awaited vintage 2022 Coleraine harnesses the energy and complexity of Te Mata Cabernet Sauvignon, on show at its highest level since the first Coleraine in 1982.

Beautiful floral aromas of lavender, violet, plum and blackcurrant, are all in orbit around the wine’s dark savoury core of tightly wound graphite, nori, coffee grounds, vanilla and tobacco.  The palate is intensely concentrated, with a superbright tension building freshness and precision as layer upon layer of fine polished tannins give pinpoint detail alongside signature, exacting, levels of finesse.

Coleraine '22 is a modern reprise of what makes Coleraine iconic, a wine balancing past and future, heritage and innovation. This is a statement wine, one that lingers both on the palate and in the mind.

 

The wine is a small batch from the McKenzie vineyard. The grapes are harvested during late April and early May in excellent condition, pressed and cold settled to retain fruit flavour.

Elegant Chablis-like Chardonnay with creamy notes and balancing acidity due to the cool climate of Central Otago's Inlet Vineyard in Bannockburn. Grapes in this wine were picked in two lots with the first pressed directly to barrel and the second lot left overnight then whole bunch pressed to barrel where they were fermented with wild yeasts and stirred weekly to encourage flavour integration from lees (yeast cells from fermentation) contact. The wine was aged in French oak, just 16% of it new and then bottled unfined but filtered.

Taka K is the brainchild of Japanese born, North Canterbury based winemaker Takahiro Koyama, who has launched this fabulous new expression of Pinot Noir from the windy climate of Canterbury. Hot days, cool nights and thoughtful winemaking combine in this wine which has a medium body and intense flavours of smoked mushrooms, wild earth and a hint of thyme beautifully intermingled with red cherry aromas and dense plummy softness. 

Like diving into a velvet cushion in the glass. Need we say more.

The grapes in this wine were grown on an organically farmed vineyard on the eastern side of the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The vineyard has clay rich soil with a limestone influence and is undergoing transition to become certified organic. All grapes were fermented in open top fermenters with wild yeasts followed by ageing in French Oak barrels (no new oak) for about 10 months, then racked and blended into stainless steel tanks prior to the bottling without any fining or filtration.

The total production was 560 cases.