Spring is a special time on the Matakana Coast, locals just as much as visitors love driving or cycling past the vineyards watching the leaf buds grow, burst and stretch along the rows.
Spring at Sculptureum began early this year after a warmer than usual winter. Springtime means budburst as the vineyard essentially ‘wakes up’ after winter dormancy, to begin the next growing season. The vineyard is currently a sea of lush vibrant green with spring growth well under way in all varieties heading towards flowering. This will produce tiny bunches and we are looking forward to a good fruit set in mid to late November. This month we have also released our new 2021 vintage Rosés. We have 2 new Rosés – a Garden series Rosé 2021 and Garden series Sparkling Rosé 2021, to stand beside the Camille Art Series Rosé. All will be available for purchase on our website. You can book in for a spring picnic in our gardens with a delicious hamper from Rothko. Book on our website. We cannot wait to welcome guests back on site to showcase these new wines from our Sculptureum Wine caravan over summer.
The 2021 vintage allowed Matakana Estate to leave a small block of Pinot Gris to raisin slightly, producing grapes with very high sugar content. The fermentation was stopped early to achieve a perfect balance of alcohol and sweetness. This Late Harvest Pinot Gris is showing strong pear and apple flavours matched with an underlying raisin character. The palate is sweet and the finish is well balanced by good acidity. It will match perfectly with cheese. Find it in our online store, which we have also stocked with gifts with purchase and christmas bundles.
The team at Brick Bay are very proud of their 2021 Rosé. “It’s incredibly satisfying to see the product of growing our grapes with zero residue, netting them, picking and pruning by hand has paid off.”
A stunning iridescent pink, this elegant Rosé recalls aromas of summer berries enhanced by floral, spice and citrus notes. The palate is silky and seductive and suggests layers of lime, cranberry, pomegranate, plum, berries and stone fruit. A velvety, strawberry sorbet mouthfeel is offset by the savoury backbone – this delicious medium-dry wine has a sliver of sweetness balanced by a touch of salty minerality and a lively, clean finish.
The vineyard is now well into budburst and inflorescence is visible. Inflorescence is when a cluster of flowers form and haven’t started flowering yet but you can see where the grapes will form. In this moment of the season, we’re hoping for as much sunshine as we can get so that our vines can soak up that energy and put it into new growth and flowers. It’s been all hands on deck in the kitchen gardens! We try to use as much of what we can grow on-site in our kitchens and now is the time to plant. Our chefs have been planning new summer menus during lockdown so they were especially excited to get out in the garden and plant all the ingredients they need for their upcoming creations.
Matavino Wines create a special Dolcetto for summer and recommend you serve it chilled to experience something a little different. The vines at Matavino are growing well with all the rain and owner Jim is busy shoot thinning, removing laterals and tucking the vines perfectly into place on the wires.
During the past few years, the Matakana Winegrowers have been able to showcase their wines at oyster festivals and community events which has given us a useful gauge on where wine lovers are at with their wine choices, and how tastes are evolving. While we know it will be a little while until we can pour our boutique wines to festival goers, we are happy to share more detail on two varieties that most vineyards in Matakana grow and make; Rosé and Chardonnay.
Rosé is now made in a way that very closely mirrors white winemaking, the only difference being that the clear juice stays in contact with the red grape skins for a few hours to grab some colour. You can use any red grape variety you wish, although in Matakana the varieties used are generally Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Dolcetto.
Chardonnay is the winemaker’s versatile grape variety. It can grow in most climates and has a long history of having layers of complexity added to it in the winery. Some people love the old-style Chardonnays with bold oak flavours and buttery characters from a second fermentation. We also make more restrained versions now for those who like a more refreshing style.
Get in contact with one of the boutique Matakana vineyards, most offer online shopping and delivery or supply their wine to the Matakana Four Square, Matakana Liquor Centre or New World supermarket.
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