Harvest

Hand harvested between April 29th, 2009. Selected clusters only infected with “noble rot”. Whole cluster pressed to tanks.

• Brix: 29.8

• TA:  9.8 g/l

• pH: 3.18   

Cellar & Bottling

Racked off gross lees after 48 hours settling. Fermented in stainless steel tanks to ~ 75 g/l Residual Sugar. Chilled. Aged on lees in tank for seven months. Cold stabilised. Sterile filtered.

Bottled on November 30, 2009.   

• RS: 77 g/l

• TA: 8.0  g/l

• pH: 3.10

• Alcohol: 13.4%

Wine

Selectively harvested botrytised clusters were picked after the first Riesling had been harvested. Careful pressing and handling including some time on yeast lees has given us a wine with depth and complexity combined with concentrated flavours of citrus and marmalade and a luscious sweetness.

Estate Grown Grapes - Muddy Water achieved full Organic Certification on 31st October, 2011

To ensure quality and uniformity this wine is a single lot, bottled at our vineyard on one day and sealed with a screw cap. Do not expect or accept any bottle variation. We regard bottle variation as an unacceptable “thing of the past”.

 The 2009, estate grown, was made from hand-picked, botrytised-infected bunches.  Rich and honeyed, it is sweet (77 grams/litre of residual sugar) and crisp, with slight apricot and marmalade notes, a minerally streak and good complexity.  ****

Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines,  2011