Whether in a theatre gallery or art gallery, it’s a place where one’s senses are aroused. A flamboyant variety like Gewürztraminer also makes an emphatic appeal to the senses with its exotic and perfumed bouquet and lingering finish.
2022 Vintage
“Beautifully complex aromas of rose petal, spice, rosemary and grilled citrus, this off-dry wine has notes of pink grapefruit and orange peel with a gentle elegant finish.” Olly Masters (Winemaker)
Vintage Notes
Warm temperatures at the start of the season, without the usual buffeting spring winds, resulted in rapid growth, aided by the moist ground from a wet winter. The warmth continued to flowering at the end of November before a cool front slowed growth but it was a good fruit set. January was hot and dry with a few consecutive days over 30°C. Conditions stayed warm for the rest of the season and harvest started at the end of March and continued over the next month. This was a dream season in terms of fruit quality and vine health with yields above the long-term average, and with an even berry size aiding flavour consistency and
varietal expression. This season will be remembered as one of the best. This Gewürztraminer was hand-picked at an average yield of 5.3 T/ha. Growing Degree Days (GDDs) were 1152
Food Match
Gewürztraminer is an extremely food-friendly wine that’s perfect with spicy food (Thai, Indian, and Mexican) as well as rich German-style schnitzel and sausages. It is also a particularly good match with pungent and soft cheeses, (oily) wild game, foie gras, and smoked salmon.
Details
| Region | Central Otago, New Zealand | Vineyard | Estate-grown, single vineyard |
| Sub-region | Bendigo | Variety/ Clones | 456 |
| Planting | 2005, Altitude: 288 – 313m | Harvested | 1 April 2022 |
| Harvest Analysis | Brix: 24.8 / pH: 3.43 / TA: 4.1 g/l | Bottled | 23 September 2022 (Stelvin closure) |
| Wine Analysis | Alc: 14% / pH: 3.28 / TA: 5.8 g/l | Cellaring | 1 – 6+ years |
| Residual Sugar | 7.3 g/l | Style | Off-dry |
Winemaking
Unusually for Gewürztraminer, the vineyard produced a good crop for a second year in a row. Phenolics (tannin) are an important consideration with Gewürztraminer, hence 100% of the fruit was whole bunch pressed. We fermented 100% of the wine in older French oak barrels to help extend the palate length. Wild yeasts were used for 50% of the barrels and the remainder inoculated with commercial yeast. The resulting wine still shows intense varietal expression and has a gentle palate. As previously, the ferment was stopped before complete dryness to retain a little residual sugar (7.3g/l) to balance the phenolics and allow the wine to age gracefully.
