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Details
Mangatahi
From the great Two Terraces Vineyard run by Linda and Ian Quinn. This vineyard sits on ancient river terraces formed by the braided Ngaruroro River. Planted in 2006, the terraces are made up of greywacke stone with a topsoil based of volcanic ash, alluvial gravels and silt loams.
Located inland and between two mountain ranges the organically farmed vineyard benefits from low rainfall, warm days and cool nights.
Season
Two cool seasons prior to 2024, coupled with a reasonably wet and cold spring of 2023 led to low bunch numbers and a long flowering period. Small, open bunches and low yields were the result, which isn’t a great thing for the wallet but is amazing for quality.
The rest of the 2024 season was near perfect, with bright, warm days and cool nights producing amazingly balanced and vibrant fruit characters while holding on to brilliant texture and acidity.
Winemaking
Albarino – 100% - Clone 635 and MS
Fruit was destemmed and left on skins for 24 hours before being pressed direct to 500L puncheons with full solids. All old French oak.
After a few days, wild fermentation spontaneously started and progressed for 12 days with a maximum temperature of 23 deg C.
Post fermentation the wine was stirred a few times and left to mature at cool temperatures. 50% of the wine went through malolactic fermentation. Minimal sulphur was added after 3 months . After total of 9 months of barrel maturation, the wine was racked to tank for bottling. No fining or filtration.
Alc - 13.5%
Nectarine, unripe apricot, melon and floral notes with an absorbing savoury, smokey and lanolin character.
Dry with an amazing slippery mid-palate, followed by a mouth watering acidity. Brioche, citrus pith and raw almond flavours finish the palate while a mild salinity helps the wine linger.