Lush, soft and deeply aromatic aromas of rose petals, lychees and tropical fruit all vie for attention in each glass of this off dry Gew?rztraminer from Nelson - long home to many of the country's best aromatic white wines. 

The Main Divide is the name of the Southern Alps and a range of great wines made by the Pegasus Bay winemaking team. These wines consistently over deliver, drink beautifully when young with their rich and opulent house style - and also age surprisingly well, given the modest price they cost.

The Riesling grapes in this wine were picked over several weeks at between 23-25 brix, which creates rich, tasty Riesling. Fermentation was in stainless steel at cool temperatures and the finished wine retains a little carbon dioxide, which accentuates fresh zingy flavours in the wine, which contains 24 grams of residual sugar.

It's a full bodied, opulent style with a crisp finish.

This medium styled RIesling is produced by Greystone Wines, a family owned winery in the Waipara Valley, the heart of North Canterbury. Greystone is one of North Canterbury's wine stars situated on the slopes of limestone rich hills in Omihi. All of the grapes that go into Greystone wines are 100% certified organic with BioGro NZ and all are estate grown. No additional fruit is purchased to supplement production, which is one of many incremental steps that go into Greystone's high quality wines. 

Greystone Riesling is one of our faves here in store and is a medium style with a nice balance of 23 grams per litre of residual sugar, which off sets the bright acidity and ensures that the overall flavours and style of the wine works in harmony. It contains 13% ABV and was made from grapes that contained a relatively low 8% botrytis, which adds weight and flesh to the wine. 

Certified organic with BioGro NZ.

About Greystone

The Greystone wine story began in 2000 when the Thomas Family bought an old sheep farm on the Omihi hills in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The rolling limestone hills lured this family in and their goal was a single minded one: to make great wines from the limestone rich soils here. Fast forward 20 years and Greystone is one of the great (and, some might say, yet to be fully discovered) wineries in this outstanding wine region. Not least due to the work of winemaker Dom Maxwell and general manager Nick Gill, who began working together in 2005 and has grown along with the brand and quality. 

This Riesling was made from fruit grown on mature vines, in the limey clay loams of the Waipara Valley floor ? our younger vines grow well on the lighter gravel soils. Harvest is generally late in the season when the Riesling fruit is ripe and clean as this is ideal for development of tangy ripe flavours, while retaining a crisp freshness. These grapes were harvested while cool, then given a long, slow press. The juice was settled, racked and cool fermentation in stainless steel followed. This has produced a full flavoured Riesling with fresh aromas of citrus, and crisp apple along with hints of ginger and spice. These flavours continue into the palate, forming a juicy wine with a perfect balance between sweetness and tangy acidity.

Food Match This Riesling will develop in the cellar for several years, but is equally delicious now with a wide range of foods- seafood and cuisine with Thai and Japanese influences, or as an aperitif with smoked salmon and avocado. Drink this now or cellar for up to eight years.

The name Mon Cheval is in homage to the owner's champion racehorse, Under Cover Lover, whose winning ways helped the dream of making wine possible. The 2.2 hectare vineyard is found at the entrance to Weka Pass in North Canterbury, and is planted with Pinot Noir and only a small amount of Riesling.

Tasting Notes
Lime blossom, orange rind, white lotus flower and schist mineral notes on the nose lead to a spicy tightly textured palate expressing gorgeous poise, drive and balance.
About the Wine
An estate grown, single block selection made from grapes grown at our Two Paddocks’ Red Bank Vineyard in Alexandra, Central Otago, our Dry Riesling is a thought provoking expression of this location. A balance of acidity and dryness means it’s a perfect fit for food matches - the perfect counter-balance to a creamy pasta dish like a cabonara, the fresh saltiness of Oysters kilpatrick and holds its own against vibrant and spicy Asian dishes.

Vintage Comments
A mild, wet 2022 winter meant soils held a lot of water going into the spring and inter-row companion crops including clover, phacelia and barley got off to a strong start. Early spring was very cold and then as spring warmed up in November shoot growth was strong. Flowering started the first week in December and fruit set was considered good on most blocks. Mid-summer heat was high and growing degree days were above 2022 and on par with 2019 by the end of the season.

Picking dates were moving forward until the second half of March when the heat ran out and the final ripening was slow and cool. Harvest started on the 27th of March at Red Bank Vineyard and finished on the 21st of April at The First Paddock, Gibbston. Cropping levels were just short of the optimum 2022 crop.

VINEYARD MANAGEMENT - Crafted from a tiny half-hectare block of clone 110 at Two Paddocks Red Bank Vineyard at Earnscleugh, Central Otago, which consistently produces the ripest and most intense Riesling on the estate. All grapes are grown using organic principles, hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel.

The soils in this block are well draining schist loam and the vines tend to thrive. Additionally, the hot day time temperatures that Alexandra experiences over summer encourages riper stone fruit flavours, until late afternoon when the ‘Roxburgh Doctor’ wind arrives and causes a dramatic drop in temperature and hence the significantly cooler nights that the region is known for.

WINE MAKERS NOTE: Whole bunch pressed and then a light racking before fermentation. An indigenous fermentation which took 5 weeks at between 14-21 degrees Celsius. The wine was then held on light lees until it was racked and filtered for clarity and stabilisation prior to bottling.

Mat Donaldson and his talented winemaking team create this fabulous Riesling, which is modelled on the best full bodied wines from both Germany and Austria. It is made from grapes given a long hang time on the vines and is, consistently, one of New Zealand's greatest white wines every year, thanks to winemaker Mat Donaldson and his talented team of Riesling devotees at Pegasus Bay Winery in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. It is succulent, medium dry, concentrated and rich in taste with a honeyed texture and and notes of lemongrass, lemon zest and ripe mandarins leading into a full bodied, weighty, off dry white with high but balanced acidity providing a long finish.

* This wine may form a natural sediment over time due to the winery's minimal handling philosophy. It has been cold stabilised by the winemaking team at Pegasus Bay.

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

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. 

This wine is a labour of love and was made from hand picked grapes grown on the organically certified Ashmore Vineyard in Fairhall, Marlborough. A combination of spontaneous yeast and inoculated ferments (50/50) were taken to 12.5% ABV and residual sugar of 19.5 grams per litre, which makes this wine medium dry in style. It tastes like lemon zest and fresh ripe Granny Smith apples on speed… a gorgeous refreshing, full bodied Marlborough white wine made from one of the greatest grapes on Earth. 

A must try. 

Terrace Edge is a family owned wine brand in North Canterbury, which makes two styles of Riesling each year. This wine is the sweeter style, with 28 grams of residual sugar making it medium sweet in taste but nicely balanced by refreshing high acidity. 

It's a tasty, rich style of Riesling, hugely popular thanks to its lively fresh acidity and length of flavour. It is also certified organic.

Terrace Edge was named the New Zealand Organic Vineyard of the Year in 2018 and this year was named Aotearoa New Zealand Organic Winery of the Year.

Classic by name and by nature. This is a full bodied, mouth filling, medium dry Riesling that is brimming with flavour, such as ripe orange, peach and mandarin. Its juicy acidity adds tension to the wine, providing a structured and beautiful aromatic white with flavours of ripe stonefruit supported by notes of freshness that lend it a long, succulent finish that tastes dry following the rich mid palate. The palate is vibrant, intense and focused with orange, nectarine and cream flavours and a good line of juicy acidity.

Great Central Otago Riesling in a medium dry, succulent, deliciously drinkable style with flavours of lime zest and lemon. Dicey Wines is owned by the Dicey brothers, Matt and James, whose parents were pioneers of viticulture and winemaking in Bannockburn, Central Otago, when they co-founded Mt Difficulty Wines.

Fromm Winery produces low alcohol wines similar to German Rieslings from the Mosel/Saar/Ruwer region. These sweet wines have an amazing balance between acid and sugar. While they have high residual sugar, they never seem cloyingly sweet, and have alcohols as low as 7-8%.

This German style Marlborough Riesling offers bright green apple, citrus and mineral notes. The texture is oily and rich, with juicy, bright acidity bringing balance.

An exceptional, fruit forward, but complex, organically certified Sauvignon Blanc from one of the greatest vineyards in Marlborough - The Settlement Vineyard. This is a large, certified organic site on a sloping hillside in Marlborough's southern valleys.