Blend of Barbera, Syrah, Tempranillo, Montepulciano & Viognier

The Vineyard: Located on the slopes of Havelock Hills (Te Mata Special Character Zone, Hawke's Bay). The vines have not been irrigated since 2017. Fossil-rich, limestone dominant soil type.

Vinification: Hand harvesting - destemming & crushing of Barbera followed by 5 days of cold maceration (50% of the final cuvée); after pressing, temperature controlled slow fermentation without skins using a special yeast strain.

Later in the vintage, saignée was drained from Syrah (MS, 470 and Limmer clones), Tempranillo, and Montepulciano which were co-fermented with some extra ripe Viognier juice (27 degree Brix) using a different yeast strain in a separate tank and one 228L old French Oakwood barrel.

Barbera ferment and saignée ferment were blended before cold stabilization.
As the wine was crafted in an artisanal way from low yielding (old) vines, handled minimally and coarsely filtered to preserve the aromatics and the final texture of the wine; as a result of this the wine will keep developing (after few months of bottle aging) with elegant minerality and the richness of flavours with perfect harmony. Oak maturation & malolactic fermentation was avoided for this fruit driven style of rosé.

A rich and full bodied wine, with unique aromatics having floral notes and balanced pure fruit weight on the palate. This expression of vibrancy and texture is unusual for a rosé wine!

This style of winemaking is similar to Rosé wines made in Rosé des Riceys AOC in the Champagne province of France. This Rosé can age up to 5 years in the bottle, and maybe more! Only 2160 bottles produced