Greywacke Riesling 2020

Tasting Note: A highly fragrant, aromatic style, oozing the delicate perfume of lime flowers, the lusciousness of white-fleshed peach and the headiness of springtime jonquils. The palate provides a refreshing burst of anise and hints of wet stones and gunflint. An invigorating off-dry style that delivers a ying-yang balance of bright, natural acidity, a subliminal touch of sweetness and finishes with mouthwatering vivacity. 

Viticulture: Organically farmed grapes were grown at Ashmore Vineyard in Fairhall, adjacent to the mouth of the Brancott Valley on gravelly clay-loam soils, conditions more typical of the Southern Valleys than the Wairau plains. This 24-year-old organically certified vineyard is trained on a two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellis and is rigorously shoot- and fruit-thinned to regulate yield.  

Winemaking: The fruit was hand-picked at moderate ripeness levels to capture the exuberance and natural acidity of the variety. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed using a very low maceration press cycle and the resulting juice was cold-settled, then racked to fermentation vessels. Half of the juice was inoculated in stainless steel using cultured yeast and the balance was filled into old French oak barriques, where it was allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation.  Towards the end of fermentation, all the wine was transferred to stainless steel where the fermentation was stopped, retaining 19 g/l residual sugar. The blended wine was filled into old barrels, where it remained on yeast lees for a further five months, prior to bottling in November 2020 with alcohol 11.8%, pH 2.89 and acidity of 7.7 g/l.