Other Varieties

Shiraz

A small amount of Shiraz is made each year from the one acre vineyard of Pam & Julian Edmonds at Spring Grove. Like Glover’s Moutere Vineyard, this one has very low productivity never reaching even two tonnes(/acre).

The wine has , in its early years ,  a nose that is rich in black or white pepper, and develops a Rhone-like “feral” character as it ages. It is early days for this vineyard, the first vintage being 1997, but it is very promising indeed.

Sauvignon Blanc

This variety, grown on the heavy Moutere gravels produces a result that is quite different to the Marlborough wines produced just over the hill. The vineyard itself contributes to this difference by its low vigour and crop level.

The tiny berries, with their full load of seeds, have a very high skin to juice ratio so that, even if only free run juice is selected, with little or no skin content, then the wine has a certain level of tannin or phenolics. This has the negative effect that when the wine is young  the nose is a little suppressed but  this is more than compensated by  palate length and longevity. This style of wine, more old world ,  goes very well with food and,  even without it,  seems to sustain interest for longer than with the shorter finishing styles. Because they are always picked at optimum ripeness, rather than the (intentionally) under ripe Marlborough style, the flavour spectrum is different , often showing its relationship with cabernet sauvignon via the black currant flavours.

Riesling

Use of several local growers has enabled the pursuit of three different styles of Riesling over the years. The first, and the one that has quite a following is the Late Harvest which exhibits a residual sugar level in the 30-50g/l range and very pronounced acid, very much in the Mosel style. Although the sugar level is reasonably high, the balancing acid hides this fact. These wines age very well and are great with foods like crayfish or scallops, that have a little sweetness of their own.

The Dry Riesling, like the Late harvest,  is made from free run juice , and again has a pronounced acidity with little or no residual sugar. Some years  a wine just called Riesling is produced and this is generally in the 5-7g/l residual range, again with good acid, but may include the pressings which ,provided they are friendly enough,  give good body to the wine.

Chardonnay

Two vintages have been made from very low yielding Mendoza clone vines, very much in a (non oaked) Chablis style. The aim is to produce  a full acid style that ages well and that goes well with food. The demand for grapes like this is strong and it is not always possible to source them.