From the winery...

Saorsa. A term to describe a radical sense of freedom that represents our philosophy completely. Our aim is to produce honest and sincere wines that are free to sing their own song and truly express themselves and the sites they are grown. Wines of great balance and texture, using what nature provides… time and thought.

Here at Saorsa Wines we make small production wines by hand in the beautiful Hawke’s Bay. We select specific sites that not only have the greatest attributes for exceptional quality but also a unique individuality that manifests in the wine itself. Production is with the lightest of hands, in a traditional manner using everything the grapes bring with them without industrial manipulation and additives.

About the wine...
Aromatic notes of rose petals and dried herbs layered upon liquorice, smoke and earth. Fresh and lively with a seductive silky finish. Our wines are produced with oxygen exposure and develop greatly once opened. Decanting the wines will allow them to truly express themselves.

Vineyards

A blend of two idyllic hillside sites in Hawke’s Bay. One from the Subregion of Paki Paki a gentle North facing slopes with shallow limestone soils. A slightly more inland area of Hawke’s Bay with long hot days and an abundance of sunlight. The second from the steep sandstone over limestone slopes of Roy’s Hill situated high above the Gimbeltt Gravels stoney soils. This presence of light and heat combined with the natural slope of the sites and cooling winds allows our Syrah to boast both masculine and delicate floral tones.

A proprietary estate red blend sourced mainly from the warm, inland soils of Bridge Pa Triangle and Gimblett Gravels. Plummy Merlot and spicy Syrah dominant flavours complexed by additions of Tempranillo, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Generous, soft, red fruits with easing going drinkability.

100% Malbec. Handpicked grapes barrel aged in French oak combine to produce a wine of great concentration and finesse. Intense and powerful with aromas and flavours of violets, dark chocolate and treacle. Mouth filling texture with fine structural tannins. Soil, mother nature and respectful winemaking allows us to produce distinctive, single vineyard wines. Cellar to 2035.

Limited edition, individually numbered bottles.

A very special Pinot Noir with layers of complexity, a silky texture and delicate concentrated red fruit, earth and spice flavours. This lovely wine is made in miniscule quantities from this country's smallest wine region, the Waitaki Valley, where the Clos Caroline Vineyard is situated. This stunning vineyard site is walled with (and full of) limestone; that mercurial rock that makes for extremely healthy Pinot Noir vines. 

This wine is a must try for Pinot Noir devotees. 

From Quartz Reef?s Bendigo Estate vineyard which is BioGro certified organic and Demeter certified biodynamic. Deep ruby-red in colour exhibiting spiced wild berries. Opulent and rich on the palate with notes of dark cherry, blackberry and liquorice. Silky tannins with a muscular structure and impressive length.

The evocative name Ruru pays homage to the native Moreporks, whose haunting call can be heard in the vineyard in which the grapes in this wine grow. This is a gorgeous expression of dry Pinot Gris from Central Otago, a region that is well suited to top notch examples of this white grape variety. The cool climate suits this grape well, resulting in refreshingly crisp examples. 

Showing a gentle blush of colour, this Rose is both charming and pretty, yet still offers great structure and drive. With initial hints of watermelon and pink rosebud florals the nose then opens to reveal wild strawberries and cream. The palate is crisp and vibrant with delicate red fruits, an elegant dry palate and juicy fruit acidity that leaves the month revived and thirsty for more. Certified organic. - Fromm

ABOUT THIS WINE: Spicy, dark fruits and with integrated French oak meets ripe plum, balanced smooth tannins and subtle earthy notes. A complex and focused Nelson Pinot Noir.
VINEYARD: Upper Moutere, Nelson , New Zealand. Tarakona (Dragonfly, or Dragon) Block. Planted 2005. 2.0ha. Ancient Moutere alluvium clay soils, featuring deeply weathered and dissected gravels.

WINEMAKING
? grapes were gently hand-harvested, days apart to ensure maximum ripeness and quality
? lightly crushed and destemmed fruit was held in open top vessels for around six days
? the must was slowly warmed and inoculated with specifically selected yeasts, with some left to ferment with ?wild? yeast naturally found on the
grapes.
? warm temperatures fermentation of up to 35C? and an extended maturation period on skins allowed for a gentle extraction of colour and
tannin
? the wine was developed in French oak barriques before secondary malolactic fermentation
? Bottled early March 2020 without fining 4456 bottles produced

VITICULTURE
? unsettled weather over flowering resulting innlower yields overall
? later on the very warm and dry summer months provided ideal growing conditions
? a successful harvest period with grapes picked at optimal ripeness and outstanding flavour profile

TASTING NOTE
? A vibrant ruby red hue in the glass
? dark fruits , integrated French oak, bright floral notes on the nose
? a palate of ripe plum, subtle earthy notes and balanced smooth tannins

Commercial description.

In exceptional years our winemakers carefully select the four best barrels of our finest Pinot Noir. Every bottle is one of fewer than 1200 bottles in existence.

Four Barrels Pinot Noir displays generous plum, cherry and ripe berry fruit aromas with a hint of soft spice. The palate is rich and showing layers of silky-smooth dark berry flavours underpinned by subtle notes of dry ‘Provencal’ herbs. A beautifully balanced elegant, lush wine with a lingering finish.

Fermented on skins for 190 days this wine is grown traditionally and fermented without intervention. Apure expression of the Opou Vineyard, home to Chardonnay for 50 years.

? BioGro Certified Organic 

? Demeter Certified Biodynamic 

? Grown and bottled on the Property

? Dry farmed 

? Unfined. Contains no animal products.

Luna winemaker Joel Watson is a devoted fan of Martinborough Syrah but is also candid about how tricky it can be to grow in this dry North Island wine region. His latest is a great example of cool climate Syrah with spicy black pepper aromas leading into a velvet smooth, highly structured wine with a full body and lingering finish thanks to its refreshing acidity. 

The Luna Syrah is made from grapes grown on the winery's Blue Rock Vineyard, which was planted south of Martinborough township in 1997 on a steep north facing slope. The sun shines all day here, providing evening ripening conditions for this late ripening grape variety but the wind also brings its influence to bear, making high crops a marginal prospect in this relatively cool climate. 

This is a stunning wine with huge complexity of clove and peppery spice coupled with dark chocolate and black fruit flavours. What's not to love in this wine. 

Fresh, fruit driven Sauvignon Blanc is dry with lively acidity, a light body and intense flavours including tropical passionfruit notes typical of many Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs and also incorporating herbaceous flavours. It's the winner of a huge number of awards including the following:

2020 Concours Mondial Du Sauvignon: Gold

2020 Sakura Japan Women’s Wine Awards: Double Gold

2020 Toast to The Coast: Double Gold

Michael Franz, US: 92 Points

Cameron Douglas, NZ - 90/100 Points

Joe Czerwinski for Robert Parker, US - 90/100 Points

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

Top drinking full bodied, dry, crisp and peachy Marlborough Chardonnay made from grapes grown on a blend of vineyards on the Wairau Valley and the Southern Valleys in Marlborough. Flavours of white peach, nectarines and ripe grapefruit intermingle in this complex white from New Zealand's biggest wine region.

The grapes were fermented in a combination of new and old oak barriques and given 10 months ageing in oak prior to bottling. 

The Wrekin Chardonnay

WINEMAKING
The grapes were 100% hand-picked and gently whole bunch pressed. After settling in tank, the juice was racked and inoculated with yeasts from ‘ The Wrekin’ vineyard and then transferred to French barriques- no new oak. In spring, malolactic fermentation occurred naturally. The wine aged for 18 months on lees.


TASTING NOTES
On the nose a complex array of toasted nuts, lees and smokey tones overlay a pure stone fruit white peach with a citrus backbone. On the palate is crisp and pure. The vibrant acidity offers lively structure to the wine’s weight and texture. Citrus pith, stone fruit, and spice leave a long delicate finish.