Critical Acclaim for Past Vintages:

2010 Vintage:

A season of extremes!  Spring commenced with two weeks of warmth and budburst followed by the coolest, wettest six weeks in memory.  Remember snow on the Desert Road in November? Then, BANG instant summer and the hottest, driest spell on Waiheke Island for over fifty years, with no significant rainfall for the past four months.  The ground is as hard as the hobbs of hell! Fortunately, however, we established our vineyard without irrigation and, now 15 years old, the vines have deep enough roots to survive.

Picking commenced and finished a week or so earlier than usual.  A small Chardonnay crop has resulted in ripe, flavoursome musts and very clean wild-yeast ferments.  A barrel-and-a-half this year.  Not a lot!

The Cabernets and the Syrah were the big beneficiaries of the big dry – small berries with very focused, rich flavours and abundant ripe tannins.  The Merlot crop was somewhat reduced, a result of the cold spring and less than complete fruitset.  However, what there was had lovely flavours.  Overall, the 2010 vintage will be one of the smallest on record.

Our aim here at Te Whau is to produce,in a restrained manner, “wines of place”, terroir wines,vinified from high-quality fruit, the result of intensive vine management, which enables character and personality to be derived from climate, aspect and soil, rather than manipulation in the winery.  Hence: wild ferments, no fining, no chemical additions and absolute minimum use of sulphur.  Wines of elegance and balance to appeal to sophisticated palates.

2009 Vintage:

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 31%, Cabernet Franc 11%, Malbec 3%

Flowering and fruit-set went very well in Spring and the 2009 growing season was humming along on all four cylinders very nicely, thank you, until an unseasonal cold Antarctic blast in late February confused the vines somewhat.  Happily summer returned with a vengeance in March through to the end of harvest and the fruit came in to the winery in beautiful condition, with lovely ripe, concentrated flavours.  As Herb Friedli, our winemaker, remarked: “Definitely a Cabernets year”.      

 Our winemaking follows a minimal-intervention, and gravity-flow approach. Hand-harvested fruit is sorted both pre- and post-crush on the middle level of our winery and falls via a large funnel to the fermentation vessels on the lower level. After a cold soak we rely on spontaneous wild or indigenous yeasts, which give slower and extended fermentation and more complexity as a result.  Following post-ferment maceration, we transfer the free-run unfinished wine into French oak barriques in our first-year cellar and press off the marc in a small oak-slatted vertical press.  Following spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation, the wine is transferred to our underground cellar for the “élevage” in top quality French cooperage, for a total of 18 months.

The wine is bottled at the winery, under cork, and is not subjected to the usual chemical manipulations. In 2009 we made 650 twelve-bottle cases, plus 40 magnums, 10 double-magnums and two imperials.

“Medium-deep red/purple. As you'd expect, it's very primary on the nose with red/black plum, blueberry and floral characters with hints of spice and game. The palate is focused and juicy with silky texture and ample fine, firm tannins. The wine shows great harmony already with a superb core of ripe fruits.”  Sam Kim - Wine Orbit Issue 11

2008 Vintage:

Cabernet Sauvignon 57%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Malbec 3%.

Here on Waiheke Island the 2007/2008 growing season could only be described as near perfect. 

Spring bud-burst was nice and even, followed by settled weather during the all-important flowering and fruit-set.  Then La Niña kicked in big time to give us asummer of childhood memories, and fantastic for growing grapes!  Long, hot, sunny days and virtually no rain gave us concentrated flavours, good phenolics and ripe tannins in a bigger-than-average crop.  A dollop of rain about three weeks before the pick de-stressed the vines – just enough!

Healthy, ripe fruit gave us trouble-free ferments, the Merlot fruit experiencing our new wooden “cuve” for the first time, and the Cabernets looking powerfully rich and deep, with beautiful balance and structure.  The wines spent 18 months in top quality French oak, one-third new barrels.

900 cases made, plus 50 magnums, 8 double magnums and four imperials.

Our 2008 “The Point” is, we believe, one of the finest we have vinified in our short history,

and is a wine to cellar for drinking after five, through to fifteen years, from vintage date.

*****  96/100“A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec grown on a steep hillside vineyard. Rich, chewy red with a to-die-for texture that almost overshadows the wine’s multifaceted fruit and savoury flavours. Dense red that promises to age superbly.”   Bob Campbell MW, October 2010 Gourmet Traveller WINE Magazine

*****  “The distinguished 2008 vintage is deeply coloured, mouthfilling and sweet-fruited, with concentrated plum, spice, dark chocolate and nut flavours and good tannin backbone. Very generous and highly complex, with a long life ahead, it’s a wine of great depth, structure and personality.”  Michael Cooper OM, 2011 Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines

*****  96/100 “Deep red with a hint of purple. The nose is youthful yet shows stunning complexity – aromas of dark plum, cassis, floral, cedar and spice. It’s concentrated on the palate with an arresting intensity leading to an extremely long finish. It’s pristine and irresistibly elegant, needing time to show it’s true beauty. A wine of astonishing potential.”  Sam Kim, April 2011 Issue 16 Wine Orbit - Your Ultimate New Zealand Wine Review.

2007 Vintage:

Cabernet Sauvignon 54%, Merlot 31%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Malbec 4%.

A cool, windy spring set the stage for a much smaller than average crop, although our topography shielded us from the worst of the sou'west gales, and we didn't suffer as much as some. The post-New Year weather was much kinder, with good warm temperatures and very little rain up to vintage, then one huge downpour halfway through picking, mercifully too late to do any real harm.

The red varietals that make up our flagship wine "The Point", predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with minority support from Cabernet Franc and Malbec, were hand-harvested from very late March to mid-April. The fruit is hand sorted at the crush and gravity-flowed into open stainless steel tanks. Wild-yeast fermentation increases complexity, and hand-plunging of the cap ensures gentle extraction of colour and flavours from the skins. The 2007 vintage is similar in size to the fabulous 2005, with 440 cases made plus large formats.

"Richly aromatic nose showing depth and concentration, full of black fruit, ripe plums, blackberries and black cherries.

"A very mellow, round and full palate, with rich, ripe fruit, velvety tannins and a savoury, long-lasting finish. Underneath this concentrated fruit is a great structure and, although the wine is approachable now, it will reward cellaring."

"The 2007 will, in time, open to a rich, succulent wine with a great drive and length, and soft, rich tannins on the finish."

Herb Friedli, Winemaker - October 2007

2006 Vintage:

Cabernet Sauvignon 50%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Franc 15%, Malbec 5%.

An outstanding growing season! A great spring gave us very even budburst, strong flowering and an abundant fruit-set. Summer followed through with superb growing conditions right through to vintage. Lots of sunshine and heat, and just the right amount of rainfall. Disease pressure was low, and we have never seen such healthy vines. Intensive manual canopy management combined with significant fruit thinning prior to harvest (up to 50% in one Cabernet Sauvignon block!) were the keys to an outstandingly successful vintage in 2006. Notwithstanding the fruit drop, it is was our biggest ever.

The pick was a week to ten days earlier than usual, and the fruit that came in to the winery was very clean and in perfect condition.

Winemaking - All ferments were with wild yeasts in mostly open-top stainless vats, hand-plunged.

A four to five day cold soak was carried out pre-fermentation, then the must was allowed to warm, and wild yeast fermentation established spontaneously. For the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, fermentation was in small stainless steel fermenters with each varietal being fermented separately, averaging 27C to 29C, with cap plunging by hand. For the Cabernet Franc and Malbec, fermentation was in open oak fermenters, hand plunged. Post-fermentation maceration was for seven to nine days before pressing in a small basket press.

Elevage was for 16 months in a range of top-quality Centre of France oak from fourteen leading coopers, in a 40:30:30 new:one-year:two-year old wood ratio. Malolactic fermentation during its first winter, but there were no other manipulations, acid adjustments or chemical additions and no egg-white or other fining agents were used.

The finished wine was bottled at Te Whau Winery in September 2007 with only a polishing filter. Alcohol 14.0% by volume, Titratable Acidity is 5.2 grams per litre. 770 cases made plus 2 imperials, 10 double magnums and 68 magnums.

"Lifted, concentrated nose with hints of liquorice, clove and cherry. Rich, velvet-smooth palate showing dense, ripe fruit with cedar/cigar-box notes and a long finish underpinned by abundant fine tannins." - Herb Friedli, Winemaker - October 2007

"The Point.. was cool, savory, penetrating and long.. I was impressed." Hugh Johnson, OBE - "The World of Fine Wine" - June 2007

Merlot 43%, Cabernet Sauvignon 42%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Malbec 5%.

What a summer! Our vines celebrated their tenth year in the ground by combining with a generous mother nature to give us our best fruit ever. Yes, it was a cold spring, which reduced the fruit set, and yes, it did hail at the end of December, but from January through to harvest it was simply glorious. Our viticultural team did a superlative job in the field, fine-tuning crop yield and balancing the vines right up to vintage. Low disease pressure allowed minimal spraying and we had very clean fruit coming into the winery at picking time. Our very steep north-facing slope, abundant sunshine and the virtual absence of rainfall translated into small, thick-skinned berries, picked between 28 March and 15 April. The 2005 Vintage was our lowest crop on record, with an even yield of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, supported by small amounts of cabernet franc and malbec.

Winemaking - A four to five day cold soak was carried out pre-fermentation, then the must was allowed to warm, and wild yeast fermentation established spontaniously. For the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, fermentation was in small stainless steel open fermenters with each varietal being fermented separately, averaging 27C to 29C, with cap plunging by hand. For the Cabernet Franc and Malbec, fermentation was in open oak fermenters, hand plunged. Post-fermentation maceration was for seven to nine days before pressing in a small basket press.

Elevage was for 18 months in a range of top-quality Centre of France oak from fourteen leading coopers, in a 40:30:30 new:one-year:two-year old wood ratio. Malolactic fermentation during its first winter, but there were no other manipulations, acid adjustments or chemical additions and no egg-white or other fining agents were used.

The finished wine was bottled at Te Whau Winery in December 2006 with only a polishing filter. Alcohol 13.5% by volume, Titratable Acidity is 5.2 grams per litre. 440 cases made plus 4 imperials, 12 double magnums and 60 magnums.

Cabernet Sauvignon 49%, Merlot 33%, Cabernet Franc 10%, Malbec 8%.

Beautiful spring conditions ensured even budburst, followed by excellent weather during flowering and fruit set. December and, particularly, January were lovely warm months with low rainfall, but February was cold and wet. However, summer returned in March and April, with virtually no rain, warmth and minimal disease pressure. Hand harvesting and hand sorting at the crush took place between mid-March and mid-April 2004. Very healthy fruit, average yield.

A four to five day cold soak was carried out pre-fermentation, then inoculation with yeast. For the Merlot and Cabernet Franc, fermentation was in small stainless steel open fermenters with each varietal being fermented separately, averaging 27 - 29 degrees Celsius, with cap plunging by hand. Post fermentation maceration was for seven to nine days before pressing in a small basket press. For the Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, fermentation was in open oak fermenters, hand plunged.

Elevage was for 18 months in a range of top-quality Centre of France oak from fourteen leading coopers, in a 30:35:35 new:one year:two year old wood ratio. Malolactic fermentation during its first winter, but there were no other manipulations, acid adjustments or chemical additions and no egg-white or other fining agents were used. The finished wine was bottled at Te Whau Winery in November 2005, with only a polishing filter. Alcohol 13.5% by volume, Titratable Acidity is 5.2 grams per litre. 520 cases made plus 3 Imperials, 9 double magnums and 48 magnums.

Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 27%, Cabernet Franc 18%, Malbec 5%.

The fruit was hand harvested with heavy vineyard selection (approximately 50% fruit drop in the Cabernet Sauvignon) in mid-March to mid April 2003 and processed by gravity-feed at the estate winery.

A three to four day cold soak was carried out pre-fermentation, then inoculation with yeast. For the Merlot and Cabernet Franc, fermentation was in small stainless steel open fermenters with each varietal being fermented separately, averaging 27 -32 degrees Celsius, with cap plunging by hand. Post fermentation maceration was for five to seven days before pressing in a small basket press. For the Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, fermentation was in open oak fermenters, hand plunged.

Elevage was for 16 months in a range of top-quality Centre of France oak from sixteen leading coopers, in a 25:40:35 new:one year:two year old wood ratio. Malolactic fermentation during its first winter, but there were no other manipulations, acid adjustments or chemical additions and no egg-white or other fining agents. The finished wine was bottled at Goldwaters in August 2004, with only a polishing filter. Alcohol 13.5% by volume. 460 cases made plus 4 Imperials, 12 double magnums and 28 magnums.

2002 Vintage:

"Plummy, spicy, earthy & savoury, with sweet,, ripe-fruit characters, ripe tannins & notable complexity... it scores with silky elegance rather than sheer power".
Five Stars. (Michael Cooper - 2005 Buyers Guide.)

"96/100 - Intense, dark spicy nose with a sikly blackcurrant and liquorice palate and a smoky finish with firm tannins. Drink 2004-2010".

Five Stars. (Kitty Johnson - Wine International 2004.)