Écluse

Price: $150 per bottle

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Extended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings duringélevage. No fining.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder with fresh mint topping, Flank steak and tamarind stir-fry, Porcini mushroom risotto, Old fashioned beef stew, Grilled rib steak on vine shoots barbecue

Warm and dry conditions in early spring gave a healthy fruit-set. Late December rains replenished much needed moisture and were followed by a period of sunny dry weather. The 2014 growing season delivered 19% below average rainfall, allowing selective harvests at optimum ripeness and delivering wines with complexity and depth of flavour.

Price: $150 per bottle

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Ex-tended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings duringélevage. No fining.

This wine pairs beautifully with New Zealand Lamb, Porcini Mushroom Risotto, Aged New Zealand Cheeses or a Decadent Chocolate Dessert.

A wet winter gave way to a calm, dry spring resulting in great fruit-set. The year started cool, but by December were well above average. January was one of the hottest and driest on record with 25 days above 30C. February was cooler, but remained warm and dry delivering. Overall conditions were ideal for the production of small and highly concentrated berries capable of producing powerful and full bodied red-wines.

Price: $110 per bottle

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Extended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Air pulses. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings during élevage. No fining.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder with fresh mint topping, Flank steak and tamarind stir-fry, Porcini mushroom risotto, Old fashioned beef stew, Grilled rib steak on vine shoots barbecue

Price: $110 per bottle

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters with indigenous and selected yeasts. Punched down and air-pulsed up to four times per day, followed by an extended maceration. Gently basket pressed and transferred into mostly new French oak for twelve months maturation. Three rackings during élevage. No fining.

Barbecue smoked brisket, baba ghanoush with grilled pita bread, dry-aged beef with port wine and mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

An early spring with warmer than average temperatures brought us a very even bud burst and good fruit set. A series of northerly storms brought above average rainfall and high humidity, creating plenty of challenges in the vineyards, however the overall heat summation was well above our yearly average providing ripe and concentrated fruit.

Price: $99 per bottle

The berries were gently split to increase the surface of the skins in contact with the juice. Fermented in small stainless vessels and concrete eggs, with indigenous and selected yeasts and bacteria, to carefully control temperature and bouquet development. The wine was then macerated until an equilibrium was achieved and then gently pressed. The élevage was brilliant in special French oak barrels for eighteen months. The finished wine was bottled under premium cork with minimal filtration to preserve all that purity while promising ageing potential.

Dry-aged venison tenderloin with blackberry sauce, Slow-braised beef cheeks with Parmesan polenta, Creamy Gorgonzola and portobello mushroom risotto, Roasted balsamic radicchio, Swiss Gruyère and Taleggio cheeses.

A warm settled spring provided the backdrop for a very hot and dry summer, setting us up for another promising vintage. Twenty-four days over 30 degrees celsius during the growing season, and a maximum average temperature of 28.6 through December and January gave us the heat summation to advance ripening nicely. Veraison was very compressed, and passed through in around two weeks instead of the usual four. February brought rain, but due to the constant and meticulous work of our vineyard team the fruit was in great shape. Continuous rounds of canopy detailing kept the fruit hanging freely and quick drying. All of this work paid off as March brought drier conditions and harvest approached. Selectively picking when the fruit reached optimum condition and many small batch ferments allowed individual attention and precision in the winery. The resultant wines, like the vintage, are filled with tension and poise. Supple and long, they will age well and deliver an ever-evolving experience over many years.

Price: $99 per bottle

The bunches were manually sorted, high-frequency de-stemmed and only the best berries then were gently split using centrifugal force, without crushing them, leaving the seeds intact and the berries fully opened, significantly increasing the contact area between juice and skin. This process combined with selected enzymes and cold soaking in stainless steel tanks resulted in optimum extraction of polyphenolic compounds and flavour precursors contained in the cells under the skin cuticles. The musts were then divided into different portions by gravity, some batches underwent a wild fermentation, some were sequentialy inoculated with several selected strains of yeast and bacteria and some were inoculated with our house strains. The fermenters were hand-plunged up to 4 times a day. Some batches received air pulses. After an extended maceration, they were very slowly vertical basket pressed and transferred to French oak from selected tonnelleries for 18 months of elevage. The wine was racked several times, unfined and all components graded and assembled before blending and bottling.

Dry-aged venison tenderloin with blackberry sauce, slow-braised beef cheeks with Parmesan polenta, creamy Gorgonzola and portobello mushroom risotto, roasted balsamic radicchio, Swiss Gruyère and Taleggio cheeses.

Warm breezy days, calm nights and the odd refreshing shower were the hallmarks of spring this growing season. This allowed an abundant fruit-set which our team then began sculpting into perfect balance. Summer was kind with lots of sunshine, above average daytime temperatures, and twenty-two days over 30C during the growing season. Free draining, North facing sites allowed us to capture all that sun while sheltering us from the little rain that fell. The beautifully separated bunches ripened fully and harvest began earlier than usual. All varietals across the vintage period were picked in optimal condition leading to much jubilation in the winery. The resultant wines showing great concentration, power and elegance. Wines approachable in their youth, but destined to age for decades.

Price: $150 per bottle

The bunches were manually sorted, high-frequency de-stemmed and only the best berries then were gently split using centrifugal force, without crushing them, leaving the seeds intact and the berries fully opened, significantly increasing the contact area between juice and skin. This process combined with selected enzymes and cold soaking in stainless steel tanks resulted in optimum extraction of polyphenolic compounds and flavour precursors contained in the cells under the skin cuticles. The musts were then divided into different portions by gravity, some batches underwent a wild fermentation, some were sequentially inoculated with several selected strains of yeast and bacteria and some were inoculated with our house strains. The fermenters were hand-plunged up to 4 times a day. Some batches received air pulses. After an extended maceration, they were very slowly vertical basket pressed and transferred to French oak from selected tonnelleries for 12 months of elevage. The wine was racked several times, unfined and all components graded and assembled before blending and bottling.

Slow roasted lamb shoulder with fresh mint topping, Flank steak and tamarind stir-fry, Porcini mushroom risotto, Old fashioned beef stew, Grilled rib steak on vine shoots barbecue

Warm settled weather in spring provided an early bud burst and an early compressed flowering and resultant fruitiest. Canopies were meticulously nurtured with laterals thinned by hand. After fruit-set we followed up by detailed leaf removal around the fruit zone allowing the fruit to make the most of the abundant sunshine. December and January were some of the driest months on record assisting veraison to begin at least 10 days earlier than usual. There was a meagre 243mm of rainfall in the growing season, the driest in 10 years. This coupled with warm summer days, cool nights and light maritime breezes helped to provide wines which are rich, ripe, opulent yet refined..

Price: $130 per bottle

The berries were gently split to increase the surface of the skins in contact with the juice. Fermented in small stainless vessels and concrete eggs, with indigenous and selected yeasts and bacteria, to carefully control temperature and bouquet development. The wine was then macerated until an equilibrium was achieved and then gently pressed. The élevage was brilliant in special French oak barrels for eighteen months. The finished wine was bottled under premium cork with minimal filtration to preserve all that purity while promising ageing potential.

Barbecue smoked brisket, baba ghanoush with grilled pita bread, dry-aged beef with port wine and mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Spring heralded very early this year around the end of August and mild sunny days followed. This encouraged a very early bud burst and early season growth. Flowering was understandably early in the increasingly warm days that followed. The driest October was followed by one of the wettest Novembers. This was a great benefit however as the vineyard was disease free and enabled great berry cell division and resulting development. Warmer than average pre-flowering to flowering period gave us fruitset 2 weeks ahead of usual. The dry warm weather continued, keeping ripening ahead of schedule. This allowed the fruit to fully develop in the late summer sun attaining perfect ripeness in flavour, tannin and sugar, acid balance. The fruit at harvest was pristine, permitting our small crew to harvest individual parcels in optimum condition. 2021 was another one for the record books!