Origin
Most of the grapes for this wine are from the Selection Ovaille and Mission clones grown at Wrekin Terrace Vineyard in the Brancott Valley, a valley floor site on gravelly clay-loam soils typical of the Southern Valleys. A smaller parcel of the Entav 52 clone (known for its small bunch and berry size) was grown at Riverbrook Vineyard in Rapaura, in young alluvial soils containing high proportions of greywacke river stones. The vineyards are trained on a two-cane VSP trellis and crop thinning is carried out to target a modest yield of 7.5 tonnes per hectare.
Producer
Greywacke was created in 2009 by Kevin Judd, chief winemaker at Cloudy Bay from its inception for 25 years and instrumental in the international recognition which Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc enjoys now. The name ‘Greywacke’ was adopted by Kevin for his first Marlborough vineyard located in Rapaura in recognition of the high prevalence of rounded greywacke river stones in the soils of the vineyard, a sedimentary rock which is widely found in Marlborough. Kevin Judd is also New Zealand’s finest wine photographer and has recently published a book ‘The Landscape of New Zealand Wine’.
Grape Variety
100% Pinot Gris
The three clones were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. The resulting juice was cold-settled then racked to fermentation vessels. Most of the juice underwent spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation in old French oak barriques and the balance was fermented in stainless-steel tanks using cultured yeast. Towards the end of fermentation all the wine was transferred to stainless-steel tanks where the fermentations were stopped, retaining 11 g/l residual sugar. The wine then spent five months on lees in old barrels prior to blending and bottling.
Food Match
Whilst a highly enjoyable aperitif this wine has the fruit, weight and acidity to go with light meats such as chicken (especially salads) – also baked ham. Try also with Sea Bass pan fried with lime juice, ginger and coriander!
Alcohol Percentage
14.5%
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