VINEYARD & CAFE
 
tasting notes

Moutere Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2007

Two hillside blocks make up the source of this wine, both blocks sit on clay soils. We tried to make an elegant wine made in a dry, classic Loire style.

The 2007 show ripe tropical Sauvignon flavours of golden kiwifruit, gooseberry and guava. It's full mid-palate, a result of its low cropping levels, shows good minerality, with 'rounded' acid that makes one want more.

The wine has a lovely long dry finish, which ensures it will also be a great "food wine". A showpiece of what is possible with this variety in this area.

$25

Moutere Hills Pinot Gris 2007

This is an absolutely unique wine and very different to most Pinot Gris in New Zealand. It's a serious attempt to express the exciting potential of aromatic varieties in this region.

This is a wine that will benefit with a few years ageing, but already shows subtle aromas of Golden Delicious apples, ginger and cinnamon. The yellow fruit flavours and spicy aromas follow through on the palate and linger for ages. Although it's been fermented dry, it has a luscious creamy "mouth-feel" that belies its residual sugar-level.

Winemaking:
The fruit was whole-bunch pressed over 8 hours with part of this blend barrel fermented with "wild yeast" and the balance fermented in stainless steel with a specially imported yeast strain from Alsace.

$34

Moutere Hills Chardonnay 2007
This wine illustrates the wonderful minerality that the clay soils in the Moutere are famous for. As with our other wines, we tried to make a wine that is genuinely unique and therefore we wanted the site to show. The wine shows a Chablis-like freshness in a burgundian style.
We also did not want fat flabby chardonnay; there are enough of them. In stead we aimed at a wine that was truly dry, so it can be had with good cuisine. This Chardonnay although very mineral, also shows the fruit purity that you get in New Zealand and this we believe is emphasised by about half the vines being on their own roots. This lime, lemon and grapefruit flavours are wrapped in a structure of refreshing acidity that shows the classic style this wine was made in and will enable this wine to age for another decade. It shows well-integrated oak.

Winemaking:
The fruit were hand -picked and whole-bunch pressed. True to our approach of letting the site show, we used natural fermentation in barrel and aged the wine for 8 months on lees. The barrel aging process was carefully planned and monitored not to get a heavily toasty, oaky chardonnay and the wine went through partial malolactic fermentation in the spring.

$37

Moutere Hills Pinot Noir 2007

Viticulture:
Our Pinot Noir shows the relative vine-age (planted first in 1993) and the fact that it's mostly on its own roots on clay. M. Albert de Villaine from Domaine Romanee Conti has said that they believe they have not yet achieved the heights that they had since grafting their vines on to American-rootstocks. (Pre 1880's phylloxera problems)
The fruit have been severely thinned at varaison and was further handpicked.

Style and tasting note:
This wine shows a lovely intense nose of strawberries and cream, with red currents and black cherry notes underlined by a subtle savouriness. It has a lush pallet, showing hints of nutmeg, cloves and Italian salami, but with all the refinement Pinot is loved for. It has a good long finish with lovely ripe and round tannins and the balanced acidity provides the structure to make this a serious Pinot.

Winemaking:
The fruit were hand sorted and only de-stemmed before under going a cols soak of about 5 days. Fermentation accrued in small 1-ton fermenters and was only hand plunched. After fermentation the wines when to barrel and underwent full malolactic fermentation. The barrel aging process was carefully planned and monitored not to get a heavily toast, or overly oaky notes and the wine spend almost 9 months in barrel.

$39

Sarau 2007

Style and tasting note:
Our flagship wine, a barrel matured white blend of 4 varieties that's all estate grown, being Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Not like anything you have ever tasted! It has a subtle nose of honeysuckle, apricot, fejoa and vanilla.
The fruit aromas follow through on the pallet, matched with delicate spicy undertones. The wine is very complex and keeps showing new characters every time one goes back to it. It is a big wine that has great pallet weight and a full creamy finish. It is still very tight and will age well.
The Sarau illustrates the fact that with the careful art of blending, a wine can be created in which "the whole is more than the parts".

A wine for the connoisseur and very limited in volume.

Winemaking:
The fruit were hand sorted and pressed separately. The wine was blended and then spend 9 month in 100% new hogshead barrels. The barrel aging process was carefully planned and monitored not to get a heavily toast, or overly oaky notes and the wine spend almost 9 months in barrel.

$50

The Hopsbarn range:
Apart from our premium range of wines , we also have a Café range, called Hopsbarn. These are ready to drink wines, less serious and good value for money as they are made with the same care and attention we pay to the Moutere Hills wines.

We decided to celebrate the many lovely old hops kilns that spec our landscape with this range's label design and name. We have an old hops kiln (hops barn) adjacent to the winery, and are in the process of restoring it. Some of the proceeds of the sales of these wines will be earmarked for the continuing restoration of this building which will on completion also house a small museum reflecting the history of our land and region with a particular reference to hops growing.

Hopsbarn Rosé 2007
A lovely light wine with bright pinkish fuchsia colour. The 07 HB Rose displays fresh and sweet berry fruit flavours and is made in a dry style similar to the classic Rosé's of Provence. A lovely refreshing drink on its own, but because of its dryness, also a great accompaniment with fresh summer salads and antipasto fare.
$22

Hopsbarn White 2007
This wine is a Chardonnay-based blend especially made for our café and will change every year. This year's blend includes some Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris fruit. The 07 Hopsbarn White has a myriad of citrus flavours and a lovely round but full palate. It is well balanced with a lingering aftertaste. Extremely good value for money, don't miss this one!
$22

Hopsbarn Red 2007
Our 07 HB Red is an approachable fresh red wine with nice blue and blackberry flavours. It's structure and concentration will allow it to accompany hearty meat dishes, but its soft round tannins allow it to provide an affordable alternative for the Pinot lover.
$28
 

To read a review of these wines, check out the article on our news page