Rock Ferry Cawtes Cave Central Otago Pinot Noir 2014

Our aim is best summed up by ‘fine wine begins with the vine’. Our approach is through organic viticulture where we strive for balance in the vineyard. This ultimately provides grapes that are a reflection of our particular site. The grapes were hand harvested, 90% destemmed and cold soaked in open top fermenters for a week prior to fermentation with the indigenous yeast. After fermentation the wines were transferred to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak for malolactic fermentation, and maturation on full lees for 12 months, before blending and egg white fining.

The vineyard is situated in the historic region of Bendigo not far from the gold mines of yesteryear. Planted on colluvium fans the vineyard is named after an old trig station on a hilltop in the middle of the site.

Rock Ferry Cawtes Cave Organic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

The Winery's aim is best summed up by 'fine wine begins with the vine'. Their approach is through sustainable viticulture where they strive for balance in the vineyard. This ultimately provides grapes that are a reflection of the particular site. The grapes were harvested in the cool morning and the juice cold settled for 48 hours prior to racking to stainless steel tanks and a portion (10%) to seasoned French oak for ferment. The thiol releasing yeast X-5 was used for fermentation. The wine was then racked and left to mature on fine lees for 4 months before bottling.

The vineyard is situated within an ancient bend of the Opawa River and the vineyard name in fact refers to the shape of the road which follows this old river channel.

"Our philosophy is to make real wines which speak of their home; to express the pure distinct flavours from our organic estate vineyards in Marlborough and Central Otago. It’s the way we live." Certified organic.

Clare Hills Clare Valley Riesling 2017 By Neil Pike

The 2017 vintage was shaped by a cool, wet winter and spring with above average rainfall. Budburst was later than the “recent normal” due to the cooler conditions in September and as a consequence harvest was also a little late – we commenced vintage on March 3rd. Leading up to harvest January and February were both quite mild with no extended periods of heat and little rain. The 20mm we did receive on 20th January finished the vineyards off nicely. The 2017 vintage will be remembered as one of the top Riesling vintages since the turn of the century along with 2002, 2005, 2012 & 2014.

The grapes for this wine were both machine and hand harvested, then transported to the winery, crushed, chilled and pressed as soon as possible prior to the juice being clarified by cold settling. It was then inoculated with a neutral, pure yeast culture and fermentation carried out in stainless steel temperature controlled tanks for on average 25-30 days. The wine was stabilised, blended and then filtered prior to bottling in July 2017.

Viking Odins Honour Barossa Valley Shiraz 2014

This wine is sourced from an old dry grown vineyard with vines dating back to the early 1900’s from what we consider one of the Barossa Valley’s finest blocks. 2013/2014 growing season was near on perfect. An ideal vintage, which gave us the benefit of perfectly, ripened fruit. The smooth flow of vintage allowed us to select specific fruit parcels and allowed us to define the wine as much in the vineyard as the winery. These grapes are brought into the winery, and crushed into old vats where the fermentation is initiated by “wild” yeasts found on the grape skins. Careful extraction and short post fermentation maceration is followed by soft pressing. The wine is transferred into brand new oak barrels where the malolactic fermentation is completed before racking and maturation for a further 24 months in barrels.  A careful assemblage and barrel selection is followed by minimal filtration and bottling then further aging prior to release.

A wine which has benefited already from time in the cellar although it will have a great lifespan of around another 10+ years.

Niche Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2016

Fruit was sourced from select vineyards in Marlborough then were lightly pressed in a cool environment with the resulting juice transferred to tank for a cold settling period of up to 3 days. Clear juice was then racked to stainless tanks, warmed and inoculated with a select yeast strain allow the intrinsic qualities of our vineyard sities to shine. Fermentation on average lasted 3 weeks at low temperatures to retain maximum varietal character, after which the wine was removed from their ferment lees before spending time on light lees to develop further palate richness and flavour. Following this the individual parcels were blended and prepared for bottling.

Harmulist South Australian Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Sourced predominantly from vineyards in Langhorne Creek, Currency Creek and Coonawarra. The fruit was picked in the cool of night then fermented on skins in static potters and rotary fermenters for a period of seven days to retain as much of the luscious natural fruit flavour as possible. Warm temperatures at the early stages of fermentation along with three days of post ferment maceration helped develop soft fleshy fruit and tannins while helping build structure. Following the pressing process, clarification and final blending the fruit was matured with select parcels having contact with mature French oak.

Chain Of Ponds Pilot Block Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2016

Fruit for this Chardonnay was sourced from two vineyards in  cooler pockets planted 30 years ago. The vines have maturity and balance which is reflected in the depth of flavours in the fruit. Both vineyards are early ripening vineyards producing grapes which are full in flavour with good floral and stone fruit notes with balanced acidity.

The grapes were machine harvested in the cool of early morning to retain freshness. The parcels of grapes were treated separately. The first undergoing complete juice clarification and fermented cool to retain fresh clean characters followed by storage in tank. The other parcel was fermented partially on solids to give complexity and weight on the palate. No malolactic fermentation was used. Post fermentation this wine was transferred to used French hogsheads for maturation. The wines were matured on lees for six months, which has added body and complexity to the wine, and were then blended together prior to bottling.

Re Serve McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016

The finest Shiraz parcels from McLaren Vale were selected for this epic wine. The soil is Bay of Biscay clay over limestone, which is generally considered tough growing conditions although when done correctly this type of soil can produce what is some of the very best Shiraz in the country. Hand picked, classically fermented with extended time on skins to draw out as much colour and fruit as humanly possible. The wine was aged in new American oak for an extended period prior to final blending and bottling with minimal filtration.