Winery notes: 

The Brothers: The Albariño Brothers are three friends from dierent backgrounds in wine. Ollie, Shaye and Ant are passionate about growing and making world class Albariño and are working together to take New Zealand’s stunning Albariño wines to the world. 

Viticulture: Perfectly ripe Albariño picked on the 12th of March from this award winning vineyard located in the Bridge Pa Triangle sub-region of Hawke’s Bay, hot days and cool nights contribute to create signature Albariño. 

Winemaking: The free run juice was split into 3 dierent vessels including seasoned Oak Puncheons and left to ferment naturally with wild yeasts, creating a Wonderfully complex wine with mandarin and stone fruit aromas combined with a nutty character. A lovely balanced and round mouthfeel with the hallmark Albariño line of fresh acidity and long concentrated nish. 

Tasting Note: Enticing aromas of perfectly ripe white peach, nectarine and citrus owers. A lovely nely textured palate with incredible purity and crisp dry nish.

The Abarino Brothers consist of winemaker Ollie Powrie, Shaye Bird and Ant Saunders who all share a passion for Albarino and a wealth of experience in the NZ wine industry. This is their Gisborne release with oodles of varietal typicity in the form of zingy zesty flavours, bright acidity and a splash of salinity. The perfect match for seafood.

WINEMAKING NOTES

The fruit for this wine was grown on the upper terrace at Askerne Vineyard and is predominantly Clone 14 Semillon. It was handpicked then whole bunch pressed, lightly settled and transferred to barrel. 100% barrel fermented with a mixture of wild and inoculated yeast, the wine was then aged on its lees for 18 months prior to blending and bottling. Final blend has a 33% new French oak component and the balance 2nd fill.

ANALYSIS

pH 3.05
TA 6.8
Alc 13.0%
RS 0.9g/L

TASTING NOTE

Bright aromas of lemon, fresh tangerine and tropical pineapple with mineral notes and hints of scented oak spice. The palate is rich and textural with concentrated lemon and stonefruit flavours on a backbone of bright zesty acidity which gives a wonderfully long finish.

AWARDS

94 Points Cameron Douglas
94 Points Sam Kim

50/50 Chardonnay and Riesling blend from the dry-farmed, organic Weka vineyard nesled between the sea and Upper Moutere. The 2024 season was warmer and drier than we usually experience in the Nelson Tasman. This intensity gave the grapes thicker skins and a bit more physiological ripeness. This wine is still unmistakably ‘Pollen’ our salty white blend. It’s textural and driven by bright acidity but
this vintage shows a slightly riper expression: waxy lemon phenolics, tropical lift, and stone fruit through the mid-palate,finishing with that signature saline complexity. Wild fermented and aged in large format neutral oak for a year followed by 6 months in bottle prior to release, unfined and unfiltered.

The Natural State wines are made by second generation Churton Estate winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver, sons of the winery's founders, Sam and Mandy. This Field Blend combines Petit Manseng (extremely rare in New Zealand), Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. All grapes were harvested on the same day and co-fermented then bottled, unfined, unfiltered with zero sulphur additions. 

Churton founder and winemaker Sam Weaver cut his teeth on the classic wines of the world while working in fine wine retail in the United Kingdom. His background is in microbiology and he was raised on a farm, so when he and his wife Mandy founded Churton Estate, it combined all of his passions. The couple and their adult sons, have created one of this country's most high quality small wineries, which lives up to the dream of creating 100% estate grown grapes, 100% certified organic production and 100% bottled on site, nearly all of the wines without fining or filtration. All grapes are hand picked and natural yeasts ferment the majority of Churton wines. These incremental qualitative decisions impact at every step of their winemaking provides exceptional quality grapes which in turn express themselves in outstanding wines.

The Natural State wines are the brainchild of second generation family winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver.

This wine is a bouquet of summer memories; nashi pear, lemon blossom and elderflower cordial.  The palate hints at sweet basil and thyme with citrus notes and a lingering dry finish.

Vineyard Sites
We have planted our Arneis on a stony section of the Gibson’s Creek vineyard, right in the centre of the Wairau river valley – classic free draining silty, stony terroir hoping to give the wine its signature “wet stone” minerality. The variety is moderately vigorous and needs careful tending, crop thinning, leaf pluck and trimming to maintain vine balance.

Vinification
The grapes were machine harvested in the cool of the morning, cold settled and cool fermented in stainless steel tanks prior to blending and finishing for bottling in spring.

Analysis at bottling

pH 3.11 | TA 6.2 g/l | RS 5.03 g/l | Alc 12.0%

A rare delicious fresh white wine made from Petit Manseng, a French grape that originates in the south of France and makes characterful dry white wines such as this lively, aromatic wine - flavours of grapefruit and zesty ripe citrus make this a deliciously tasty wine. 

The father-daughter winemaking team, John and Beth Forrest, are champions of lesser known, outstandingly interesting grape varieties from around the world, including Petit Manning. 

Pronounced 'pet-eet man-seng'. Deliciousness in a bottle.

VINEYARD - The fruit was sourced from one of the oldest vineyards in the Waipara Region.  The vines are sustainably managed and maintained in order to deliver fruit with a great balance of concentration and acidity. 

SOIL TYPE - Clay over Alluvial gravels

WINEMAKING - After gently pressing this wine was fermented in seasoned French oak and aged on lees for 7 months.

TASTING NOTES - Wonderfully fruited and richly expressed, the bouquet shows golden peach, lychee, mango and rose petal aromas with a lovely spicy overtone. The palate delivers terrific fruit power and intensity combined with creamy mouthfeel and velvety texture, finishing long and sumptuous.  Sam Kim – Wine Orbit

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.

A field blend of Pinto Gris and Riesling from Otiake in the Waitake valley.

Delicately poised and floral on the nose with white fruit and lemon pith and a touch of complexing minerality. The palate is ripe and deep with stonefruit, citrus and further floral notes leading to a deep and spicy finish. A pure cool climate, aromatic wine.

Hans and Therese Herzog winery established their winery in Marlborough in 1994 and have since gone on to produce some of the region's most diverse, high quality, small volume wines, including this blend of 50% Viognier, 30% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne, which were fully fermented to dryness in this spicy, peachy, full bodied white. This wine is modelled on the great whites of the northern Rhone in France and the wine takes its name for that region's famous Mistral wind which blows through the valley. 

Extended skin contact and cold maceration provide the colour intensity and flavour in this wine. The Marsanne and Roussanne were fermented together with wild yeasts in 500 litre puncheons then blended with the Viognier and aged in 500 litre French oak puncheons for 18 months. 

The finished wine was bottled without fining or filtration, so is vegan friendly.

An outstanding New Zealand Albarino with complex flavours of salty green olives, freshly picked Granny Smith apples and bright acidity, which adds a zesty note to the flavours of subtly savoury wine. It's rich and full bodied with mouthwatering crisp salivating acidity giving great balance, length and structure.

86% Viognier, 14% Marsanne

TASTING NOTE Apricot, citrus, white peach and acacia blossom aromas burst from the glass giving this wine personality and intensity. The palate is concentrated, dry and savoury; salted plum and sake flavours with an earthy mineral finish. This wine has turned into a delicious, complex number with multiple layers, and is perfectly expressive of the vintage and site upon which it was grown. A wine that’s stands alone or can accompany a variety of dishes through all four seasons. 

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE Crafted from two small blocks located on the Western point of Waiheke Island, Viognier and Marsanne thrive in the salt laden air. We have predominantly mineralised clay volcanic soils over Jurassic era rock with no irrigation. This type of geology and soil provides wines with great mid-palate weight and minerality. The grapes were hand harvested when flavours peaked inside the small window of optimum ripeness that occurs with Viognier. We practise regenerative viticulture in our vineyards to ensure resilience and longevity of our vines. 

WINEMAKING 2023 saw another load of happy staff foot stomp a portion of the hand harvested Viognier and Marsanne, whilst the remaining fruit was delicately whole bunch pressed. We fermented the juice in a large concrete egg and some French acacia barrels. The wine was then rested on fine lees for 9 months in these same vessels before assemblage and bottling.

Winemaker Jules Taylor is a champion of adventurous winemaking and grape varieties, such as Gruner Veltliner - and this is a fabulous dry white wine. The Gruner grape originally comes from Austria and is capable of a diverse style of wines, such as this refreshing aromatic and savoury wine. 

LINDEN ESTATE Grüner Veltliner 2024

Grape Varietal: 100% Grüner Veltliner

Growing Region: Hawke’s Bay - New Zealand Winemaker: Alex Hendry

This 2024 Grüner Veltliner has a straw yellow colour with shining hue. On the delicate nose you have aromas of white flowers, honeysuckle, green pears and a subtle pinch of white pepper. On the light-to-medium palate you have a relaxed wine style with appealing fruit flavours, showcasing ripe pears, and a casual splash of citrus acidity. The wine has an easy drinking nature and a simple friendly personality that signs off with an off-dry finish.

Food Pairing: An ideal wine with grilled calamari, Thai fishcakes, spring rolls, and a chicken salad.