Autumn Release 2001
2001 Calm, moist growing conditions from the early part of the season resulted in full vineyard canopies. The dry weather in the lead up to, and during harvest 2000 resulted in wines showing similarities to those from 1991 - with elegant floral styles and an expectation for interesting development. Production levels in a number of varieties has been severely limited by frost damage in the early Spring.
- 2000 Craighall Riesling
The grapes for this wine were picked in several parcels around mid-April to achieve a spread in flavours. The juice fermentation elected to stop slightly short of dry and yielded a wine with a bouquet of flowers, dry straw and lemon peel with hints of spice with a long, fresh palate tasting of limes, lemon zest and with mineral notes. It has an almost mouth-watering intensity and a long aftertaste but is in a fairly restrained style which gives the impression that there is quite a lot to emerge.
- 2000 Dry River Est Gewurztraminer
Both the Gewurztraminer and the Pinot gris wines are in very short supply from a combination of damage by the October frosts and difficult flowering conditions during December. This wine shows the style of the vintage - sharing similarities with the 1991 wines - and emphasises the floral side of the variety. The nose is abundant, sweetly floral with spices and is unmistakeably varietal. The palate is intense, showing white peaches overlaid with cloves and other spices. It is elegant rather than weighty with good flavour concentration We expect the wine to develop more weight on the mid- and back-palate with a few years in the bottle. The 1991 wines were in a similar vein and amongst our more long-lived wines.
- 2000 Dry River Est. Pinot Gris
A slight deviation in style from recent vintages was dictated by vintage conditions and crop level. Physiological ripeness was achieved earlier than usual, resulting in a wine which we were able to ferment close to dryness. The nose smells of jasmine, white peach, walnuts and spice. The palate is firmly structured and has a creamy oily texture with flavours of quince, papaya, watermelon and some minerality combined to give a long elegant finish. Although you may be tempted to think otherwise, it has not been matured in oak.
- 1999 Arapoff Syrah
The season provided full vineyard canopies from midseason on, and a dryish autumn with a total heat slightly warmer than average - midway between the 97 & 98 vintages. Interestingly, total heats for Martinborough might seem technically a little too cool for making ripe Syrah styles, but low cropping and very careful vineyard management offsets this and seems capable of creating wines with clear varietal characters, strong vibrant colours and good concentration. This wine has a sweet accessible nose smelling of red/ black berries and fruit, flowers and a touch of dried rosemary. The palate is rounded, almost plush with well-integrated oak, a firm underlay of fruit tannins and a spicy finish, all integrated with flavours of raspberry, boysenberry, Black Doris plums and hints of Cassis.
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