The Crater Rim Waipara Pinot Noir 2008


The Waipara 2008 vintage started well. A warm, settled and dry summer with a good fruit set in December. Autumn days brought a mixture of moisture, sunshine and cooler temperatures. Harvesting date decisions were crucial to bring in a good and healthy crop. The fruit harvested was beautifully ripe with lovely flavours. The grapes had good levels of natural acidity with ripe skin and seed tannin.

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard on the Omihi Hills overlooking the Waipara valley. 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 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 3rd April 2009.
Aromas of red cherry, roses, savoury spice and hints of earth. 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 The Crater Rim 'Gibbston Valley'
Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008

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 'Omihi Rise' Waipara Pinot Noir 2007

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single vineyard on the Omihi hills overlooking the Waipara valley. This vineyard is densely planted (over 7000 plants per hectare) and cropped at less than 1 Kg per vine. This site has dense clay over limestone providing us with intensely concentrated fruit with dark fruit and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed with 20% of whole bunches retained. 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 new, 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. The wine was given a light egg white fine and lightly filtered before being bottled on 29th April 2008. The wine was bottle aged for an additional 5 months in the winery before release.

Aromas of dark fruits, gamey spice and sweet leather. The palate is taut, firm and complex. A complex fruit core is girdled by dense age-worthy tannins, with a fine mineral, almost iron filing note on the finish.

This wine is sealed with a Diam cork closure and is guaranteed cork taint free. For more info see www.oeneoclosuresusa.com

The Crater Rim 'Blacks Lot 7' Waipara Pinot Noir 2007

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single vineyard on the Omihi hills overlooking the Waipara valley. This vineyard is situated not far from the ‘Omihi Rise’ vineyard and is densely planted with cropping levels at less than 1 Kg per vine. This site has dense clay over limestone providing us with intensely concentrated fruit with dark fruit and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed with 10% of whole bunches retained. 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 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 29th April 2008. The wine was bottle aged for an additional 5 months in the winery before release.

Aromas of black cherries, wet earth and baking spice. The palate is dense, creamy and complex. A dark fruit core is framed by ripe, structured tannins, with an elegant mineral mid-palate.

This wine is sealed with a Diam cork closure and is guaranteed cork taint free. For more info see www.oeneoclosuresusa.com

The Crater Rim Canterbury Pinot Noir 2008

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 24th March 2009.

Aromas of Violets, smoke and berry fruits in the raspberry / cherry end of the spectrum are immediately apparent. On the palate the fresh berry, red stonefruit and subtle earthy characters are tempered by fine ripe tannins to give a powerful, lingering finish.

This wine is sealed with a Diam cork closure and is guaranteed cork taint free. For more info see www.oeneoclosuresusa.com

The Crater Rim 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 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 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 9 months to build complexity and palate structure. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before bottling on 26th September 2008.

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 style Riesling.

The Crater Rim Canterbury 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 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 9 months to build complexity and palate structure. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before bottling on 26th September 2008.

Aromas of braeburn apples, smoked rock salt and pink grapefruit 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 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 style Riesling

The Crater Rim Waipara Pinot Gris 2008

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.

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, 30% of the juice was drained into new oak for fermentation by the
vineyard's indigenous yeasts, the rest of the juice was fermented in
stainless tank. It was given a long, cool, unhurried maturation on full
lees. The wine in barrel continued to ferment for five months, and then was
fined and filtered prior to bottling.

Aromas of white peach, spiced pears, earth and brioche combine with a
textural palate. A thread of mineral acidity is balanced by residual
sweetness, to create a Pinot Gris which is true to its Waipara origins.

The Crater Rim Waipara
Sauvignon Blanc 2008

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a selection of low cropping vineyards around in the Waipara valley. This has produced a wine with powerful fruit characters.

In the winery the fruit was gently whole bunch pressed to retain pure the fruit characters. The majority of the juice was fermented by selected cultured yeasts in stainless steel tanks with a small proportion fermented in oak barrels by indigenous yeast to add complexity. After fermentation the wine was matured on fine lees for 3 months to build complexity and palate weight. The wine was lightly fined and filtered before being bottled on 28th August 2008.

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.