Chard Farm, Central Otago, New Zealand.
The winery was constructed in 1993 and has the capacity to process around 250 tonnes of grapes annually with emphasis on whole bunch pressing.
Our recent expansion of the winery has been completed and we're pleased to report the underground barrel cellar and specialist Pinot Noir cuverie work very well. The barrel cellar uses the old world technique of sitting the barrels on bare earth pits that have been filled with gravel. This lets the cellar breathe, but more importantly keeps the humidity high, thereby preventing a lot of wine evaporation aka "the angels share" and therefore loss of wine. This is particularly important in the low natural humidity climate of Central Otago. Our 400 barrel cellar could lose around 12 litres/barrel or 4,800 litres over a year!. We hope to reduce that figure to closer to 1,000 litres.
Tasting Notes
The wine is fresh and lively on the palate. Red berry fruit flavours dominate with some herbal/savory tones. Fine, ripe tannins build an elegant structure and lead to an impressively long and mineral finish.
Winemakers Notes
Our four Mata-Au vineyards are located in the Lowburn and Parkburn areas of the Cromwell basin. The vineyards are planted on the terraces and alluvial schist based soils formed by the Mata-Au (Clutha) River (pronounced – martar-o). The unique combination of site, soil and mild continental climate produces perfumed wines with elegant texture, structure and mineral length.
