The Crater Rim Waipara Pinot Noir 2009


The Waipara 2009 vintage started well. Warm, settled and dry summer with a good fruit set in December. Autumn days brought fine weather allowing for a harvest when the fruit was ready rather than when the weather decided. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2009.
The fruit for this wine was sourced from a small, single vineyard in the Waipara valley. The soil at this site consists of clay over limestone.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed. The wine was naturally fermented by wild yeast in wooden, open-top fermenters. After fermentation the wine is macerated on skins until we thought the balance between tannin and flavours was perfect. The wine is transferred into a mix of seasoned, 1, 2 and 3 year old French oak barrels where it matured on fermentation lees for 11 months. The wine underwent natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation the following spring before being racked into tank for blending and equalizing before being bottled unfined and lightly filtered on 28th March 2010.
Aromas of red and black cherries, grandma’s rose garden, savoury spice and hints of game. The palate has an attack with bright red and black fruit flavours. Fine, structured tannins adds texture complimented by mineral acidity on the finish.

While approachable now, we feel this wine will gain further complexity with careful cellaring.

The Crater Rim ‘Bendigo Terrace’ Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

The Central Otago 2009 vintage started with some nerve racking frosts which the relatively warm Bendigo region managed to avoid for the most part. Settled weather during flowering resulted in a good fruit set with an average sized crop. Cool night time temperatures leading up to the harvest made for some sleepless nights worrying about frost. This had an underlying benefit of slower ripening of the fruit resulting in concentrated flavours while retaining fresh fruit characters. The harvest period was very dry with clear cool nights. The beautifully clean and concentrated fruit was harvested during the second week of April with good levels of natural acidity along with ripe skin and seed tannin.
The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard in the Bendigo region. This has produced a structured wine with layers of dark berry fruit, spice and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed. The wine was naturally fermented by wild yeast in wooden, open-top fermenters. After fermentation the wine is macerated on skins until we thought the balance between tannin and flavours was perfect. The wine is transferred into a mix of seasoned, 1, 2 and 3 year old French oak barrels where it matured on fermentation lees for 11 months. The wine underwent natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation the following spring before being racked into tank for blending and equalizing before being bottled unfined and lightly filtered on 23rd March 2010.
Aromas of dark cherry, dutch cocoa and wild herbs. The palate has an attack with dark fruit flavours. Fine, structured tannins adds texture complimented by fresh acidity on the finish.

The Crater Rim ‘Gibbston Valley’ Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008 – Sold Out

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard in the Gibbston valley. This has produced a slowly evolving wine with layers of dark fruit, spice and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed. The wine was naturally fermented by wild yeast in wooden, open-top fermenters. After fermentation the wine is macerated on skins until we thought the balance between tannin and flavours was perfect. The wine is transferred into a mix of seasoned, 2 and 3 year old French oak barrels where it matured on fermentation lees for 10 months. The wine underwent natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation the following spring before being racked into tank for blending and equalizing before being bottled unfined and lightly filtered on 23rd March 2009.
Aromas of black cherries, baking spice and hints of dark chocolate. The palate has an attack with dark fruit flavours. Fine, structured tannins adds texture complimented by fresh acidity on the finish.

The Crater Rim Canterbury Pinot Noir 2009

The Canterbury 2009 vintage started well. Warm, settled and dry summer with a good fruit set in December. Autumn days brought fine weather allowing for a harvest when the fruit was ready rather than when the weather decided. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2009.The fruit harvested was ripe with pure red fruit flavours. The grapes had good levels of natural acidity with ripe skin and seed tannin.

The fruit for this wine was sourced from two low cropping vineyards around the Canterbury region, ‘The Croft Vineyard’ in Burham and ‘Fraher Vineyard’ in Waipara. This has produced a slowly evolving wine with layers of floral, fruit and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed. The wine was naturally fermented by wild yeast in wooden, open-top fermenters. After fermentation the wine is macerated on skins until we thought the balance between tannin and flavours was perfect. The wine is transferred into a mix of seasoned, 1 year old and new French oak barrels where it matured on fermentation lees for 11 months. The wine underwent natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation the following spring before being racked into tank for blending and equalizing before being bottled unfined and unfiltered on 30th March 2010.
Aromas of Violets, sweet herbs and berry fruits in the raspberry / red cherry end of the spectrum are immediately apparent. On the palate, fresh berries, white cherry and subtle earthy characters are tempered by fine ripe tannins to give a powerful, lingering finish.

The Crater Rim Waipara Riesling 2009

The Waipara 2009 vintage started well. Warm, settled and dry summer with a good fruit set in December. Autumn days brought fine weather allowing for a harvest when the fruit was ready rather than when the weather decided. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2009.
The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard in the Waipara valley. This has produced an approachable wine with complex citrus and stone fruit characters.

In the winery the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed. The juice was settled during the cold of the night and then gently racked off lees the following morning and naturally fermented by wild yeast in small Flextank fermenters. The fermentation was arrested when we felt the balance between acid, extract and sweetness was perfect. The wine was left to mature on fine fermentation lees for 9 months to build complexity and palate structure. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before bottling on 26th October 2009.

Aromas of lime sorbet, spring flowers and white peach combine with a textural palate. A thread of mineral acidity is balanced by residual sweetness to create a refreshing Germanic Spätlese style Riesling.

While approachable now, we feel this wine has the potential to gain complexity with careful cellaring.

The Crater Rim Canterbury Riesling 2010

The Waipara 2010 vintage had a rough start. A wet summer lead to a poor fruit set in December. Autumn days brought a mixture of moisture, sunshine and warm temperatures. Harvesting date decisions were more relaxed than usual as we had a fine warm Autumn. Due to low yields from poor fruit set, fruit quality was excellent. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2010.

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single, un-irrigated, mature (18yr) low cropping vineyard in the Waipara valley. This has produced an approachable wine with complex citrus, roses and apple characters.

In the winery the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed. The juice was settled during the cold of the night and then gently racked off lees the following morning and naturally fermented by wild yeast in stainless steel fermenters. The fermentation was arrested when we felt the balance between acid, extract and sweetness was perfect. The wine was left to mature on fine fermentation lees for 10 months to build complexity and palate structure. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before bottling on 23rd December 2010.
Aromas of braeburn apples, citrus and spice with a hint of rose water are immediately apparent. On the palate the ripe citrus attack combines with a thread of mineral acidity. This balanced by residual sweetness to create a refreshing off-dry (Kabinett style) wine.

The Crater Rim ‘Dr Köhls’
Waipara Riesling 2008

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard in the Waipara valley. This has produced an approachable wine with complex citrus, stone fruit and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed. The juice was settled during the cold of the night and then gently racked off lees the following morning and naturally fermented by wild yeast in stainless steel fermenters. The fermentation was arrested when we felt the balance between acid, extract and sweetness was perfect. The wine was left to mature on fine fermentation lees for 14 months to build complexity and palate structure. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before bottling on 2nd July 2009.

Aromas of waxy lime, white radish and golden peach combine with a textural palate. A thread of mineral acidity is balanced by residual sweetness to create a refreshing Germanic Auslese style Riesling.

The Crater Rim Waipara Pinot Gris 2010

The Waipara 2010 vintage had a rough start. A wet summer lead to a poor fruit set in December. Autumn days brought a mixture of moisture, sunshine and warm temperatures. Harvesting date decisions were more relaxed than usual as we had a fine warm Autumn. Due to low yields (we received a third of the estimated crop into the winery) from poor fruit set, fruit quality was excellent. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2010.
The fruit for this wine was sourced from a small, single vineyard in the Waipara valley. The soil at this site consists of river stones with limestone dust throughout.

The fruit was left to cold soak overnight in the press to maximise aroma extraction and to extract the noble component of the fruit. Without settling, the juice was slowly fermented in small stainless steel tanks. After fermentation it was given a long, cool, unhurried maturation on full lees. The wine was then lightly fined and filtered prior to bottling on 23rd Decmber 2010.

Aromas of white peach, citrus and brioche combine with a textural palate. A thread of mineral acidity is balanced by residual sweetness, to create a Pinot Gris in an Alsatian style which is true to its Waipara origins.

The Crater Rim Waipara
Sauvignon Blanc 2009

The Waipara 2009 vintage started well. Warm, settled and dry summer with a good fruit set in December. Autumn days brought fine weather allowing for a harvest when the fruit was ready rather than when the weather decided. We were very pleased with the quality of the fruit we harvested in 2009.
The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping, sustainable vineyard in the Waipara valley called ‘Fraher Vineyard’. This vineyard produces a wine with powerful fruit characters.

In the winery the fruit was gently whole bunch pressed to retain pure the fruit characters. Roughly 80% of juice was fermented by selected cultured yeast and the balance was fermented by indigenous yeast in a selection of small tanks. After fermentation the wine was matured on fine lees for 6 months to build complexity and palate weight. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before being bottled on 28th November 2009.

Aromas of tropical fruits, mown hay and gorse blossom. The palate is rich yet compact with a mineral mid palate and fresh acidity on the finish.