Vibrant and alive. Pale salmon hue. Aromas of baked pear, honey suckle, and rose petals. Uplifting effervescence with a full, round, and fruitful mid pallet. Fine, lingering, and refreshing finish. Drink today.

This wine requires care when opening. Stand upright and chill to around 10 degrees centigrade. Open the crown cap with a decanter ready to capture any overflowing wine. No winemaking additives, un-fined, unfiltered

Vineyard

The Damsteep Vineyard is located in the north east of Waipara Valley at the foot of the Omihi Saddle in North Canterbury. The Pinot Noir and Riesling grapes used to make this wine grow on a 7.5 hectare vineyard from 8 different parcels of various north-east, north, and north-west facing slopes. The altitude varies between 140 to 280 meters above sea level. The vines here were planted in 2000 and grow on clay overlying fractured limestone and sandstone soils. This Pinot Noir grapes were harvested from Shed and East-West blocks with clones 10-5 (ungrafted), Clone 5, 114, 115, 667, 777. The Riesling was harvested from Riesling A and B blocks with clone GM110. Damsteep vineyard is certified organic with BioGro since 2017 and Biodynamic with Demeter since 2023.

Season

Winter and early spring rainfalls were only moderate but vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Bud burst was 7 to ten days early which meant vulnerability to frosts in mid September and as late as early November. Dry conditions continued until late November when humid overcast conditions became more common until late January. Mild temperatures through veraison allowed gradual even ripening until hand harvesting which commenced on March 11 and was complete by April 14.

Harvest

• Hand harvested: March 11 to April 4 2025
• Yield: Harvest of 4.7T Pinot Noir and 3.9T of Riesling | 0.8 - 1.8kg/vine
• Brix: 18.6 - 21.2
• TA: 7.3 - 10.3g/L
• MA: 2.5 - 2.9g/L
• pH: 3.07 - 3.35

Fermentation

Whole bunch pressed. Juice settled for 48 hours then racked to small upright stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Yeast propagated from a vineyard starter from the Damsteep Vineyard.

Bottling

Fermenting wine blended from separate tanks and bottled on June 10 2025. Fermentation was completed in bottle and then aged on lees for 3 months. Hand and machine riddled from Sept 22 2025. Disgorged in Oct 2025.

• Production: 1186 doz (6 x 750ml) cartons were produced
• R.S: 10.1 g/L
• TA: 4.7 g/L
• pH: 3.40
• Dry extract: 30.5g/L
• Alcohol: 12.2%
• VA: 0.36g/L
• Total Sulphur Dioxide: <10mg/L (no SO2 added)