Viognier

Go Aromatic – Creamy, aromatic curries like kormas or spicy Thai/Indonesian dishes work amazingly well. This is a bold wine, with huge aromatics and creamy texture. Try shell fish like lobster on the BBQ with a mayonnaise sauce, or potato bake with bacon bits, coriander and hollandaise.

The Drift Farm is an education in generational thinking. It’s a family focus. Sometimes it’s a frank reflection of personal failure. But the mistakes and disappointments are only the slippery steps up a beautiful mountain slope. This is farming after all. When you pause for breath and look around at the view the stumbling is forgotten. You realise you are still going forward and upward for all the right reasons. What a privilege. Your eyes and nose and lungs are flooded with freshness and this seeps into your soul. Your weariness disappears. You feel more. You sense more. You can’t help smiling and it starts in your heart. Life and this clamorous endeavour called living are put into perspective.

Viognier from 16 year old vines (planted in 2004) on Ruggeri and Richter 99, 2 picks for ripeness and freshness; Chenin Blanc from Wellington.

Grapes were sorted, destemmed under CO2 to open top fermenters. Cold soak under CO2 for 2-3 days, fermented with wild yeasts at cool temperatures (11-13C) with one punch down daily; presses in a traditional basket press straight to barrel; partial malolactic fermentation and occasional barrel stirring; 6 months in barrel, with 15% new oak. 2 rackings prior to bottling on 27 November 2020.