2025 was an outstanding vintage, if not the greatest of all time: a perfect, settled summer and a calm autumn combined with healthy yields across our sites. Warm, steady ripening days and cool nights on Waiheke Island produced grapes with concentrated flavours, refined phenolics and bright fruit characters.

Fruit was hand harvested from our dry grown, wind sheltered vineyard parcels and fermented separately on native yeasts in open top fermenters over a 30 day vat period to preserve site nuance. Prior to bottling, the wines went to barrel for 16 months, followed by an adjusted élevage. To accommodate an earlier release, keeping up with demand, we altered cellar handling: components were blended earlier to stabilise the wine’s shape, select parcels underwent more frequent racking with measured aeration to gently soften tannins, and we retained a late, ‘wild’ malolactic fermentation to preserve texture and complexity.

Post ferment maturation took place in 500L French oak puncheons, with appropriate parcels aging on gross lees to build mid palate weight. After final blending and integration, the wine returned briefly to oak prior to bottling.