A Commitment to Viticulture

We aim to use only our own grapes grown from the specially selected sections of our vineyards.
The majority of Vineyard management techniques and harvesting are conducted by hand. Our low yield vineyard policies result in rich intense fruit flavours. Bunch management and early stage thinning procedures give a line of consistent ripeness and flavour intensity across the vineyard. Our pruning and leaf plucking procedures maximise sun and situation to enhance ripening levels and produce small berries.
The aim at Matariki is to produce fine fruit driven wines of elegance and complexity. Handcrafted wines from a tapestry of soils growing in harmony with nature.

Classic Gimblett Road Reds:

These grapes have been planted on the area of the vineyard where the stones are closest to the surface ensuring consistent ripening. Again careful attention is paid to summer pruning and leaf control to ensure small berries and very ripe fruit. At verasion any fruit that is late is cut off the vine. On the stony gravels we grow Syrah and Cabernet Franc with Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec having a small amount of silty soils and Merlot up to 600mm of silts and sand over gravels.
All our red grapes are hand picked and treated very gently from the time they leave the vine. They are gently crushed and destemmed with the rollers partly opened then fermented in stainless steel on skins for anything from 7 to 12 days depending on variety. This is pumped over and hand plunged 2 to 3 times per day to submerge the cap. On completion of fermentation the grapes are barrel aged in predominantly French oak for up to 2 years, depending on the blend and the year.

Syrah:

The Syrah vines are planted on some of our most free draining, gravelly sites. As Syrah ripens later in the season these selected sites offer us the best potential for ripening the fruit to optimum sugar and flavour levels.
Winemaking:
The fruit is hand picked in small batches according to clone, site and maturity. The grapes are destemmed and gently crushed to tank. Some of the batches are cold soaked before fermentation to extract flavour, colour and spice from the skins. During fermentation the individual batches are gently pumped over 2 to 3 times per day, tailoring off as the ferment finishes. Some of the batches may be left on the skins for a further 2-3 weeks for post ferment maceration before being pressed off. The wine is matured in predominantly French oak for 15 to 20 months before the individual batches are blended, fined and prepared for bottling.

Merlot:

The Merlot vines have been planted on sites around our Gimblett Gravels vineyard that have more sand and silt over stones allowing a small amount of water retention which is suitable for Merlot as a variety. The vines are managed to ensure small berries and optimum ripening potential.
Winemaking:
The fruit is hand picked in small batches according to clone, site and maturity. The grapes are destemmed and gently crushed to tank. During fermentation the individual batches are gently pumped over 2 to 3 times per day, tailoring off as the ferment finishes. Some of the batches may be left on the skins for a further 2-3 weeks for post ferment maceration before being pressed off. The wine is matured in French oak for 15 to 20 months before the individual batches are blended, fined and prepared for bottling.

Cabernet Sauvignon:

The Cabernet Sauvignon is planted on soils with a very deep stony phase which leads to the vine putting its roots deep in to the ground to try and find water. The vines become stressed and so concentrate their limited resources in to creating small ripe berries which leads to us being able to produce premium Cabernet Sauvignon wines.
Winemaking:
The fruit is hand picked in small batches according to clone, site and maturity. The grapes are destemmed and gently crushed to tank. During fermentation the individual batches are gently pumped over 2 to 3 times per day, tailoring off as the ferment finishes. Some of the batches may be left on the skins for a further 2-4 weeks for post ferment maceration before being pressed off. The wine is matured in French oak for 15 to 20 months before the individual batches are blended, fined and prepared for bottling.

Pinot Noir:

With plantings on the silty gravels on Gimblett Road and the limestone terrace behind Te Mata Peak we are able to get very ripe flavoured fruit combined with the slower ripening grapes from the Te Mata vineyard.
Winemaking:
The fruit is crushed gently ensuring a high portion of whole berries and up to 10% whole bunches are added back into the tank. Each batch is fermented separately with some batches being cold soaked before inoculation. After approximately 15 months in new and seasoned fine grained French barriques the batches are tasted and blended before being prepared for bottling. Production is only small but the results are very encouraging.

White Wines

Chardonnay:

The Chardonnay comes from our two vineyards. On Gimblett Road this variety is planted where there is more silt evident over the gravelly subsoil. Two canes are laid down and early in the season the vertical shoots are thinned. Leaf plucking is carried out after flowering to help ensure small berries are produced and encourage light and air to circulate. Our other vineyard is situated on the limestone soils behind Te Mata Peak which complements the tropical fruit flavours of Gimblett Road by adding citrus and mineral notes.
Winemaking:
The fruit is handpicked and whole bunch pressed with minimal handling. A portion of the fruit is 100% barrel fermented with wild yeasts in French barriques while some juice is inoculated and partially barrel fermented. We inoculate for a small amount of malolactic fermentation and then the wine is left on gross lees with regular stirring for 10 months before bottling. This minimum intervention in the winery is designed to preserve quality and fruit flavours.

Sauvignon Blanc:

The difference lies in the attention paid to each of the 3 individual plots on the Gimblett Road vineyard. Cropping levels, the amount of leaf cover and the different picking dates are carefully managed to give grapes of greater complexity to be blended into the final wine. With these techniques we are able to produce apple and gooseberry flavours of high acidity in one block and the full ripe rich tropical fruit flavours in another.
Winemaking:
Some of the crop is machine harvested, the only variety to be treated this way, as the skin contact gives us extended fruit flavours desirable in this wine style, however the majority is hand picked and whole bunch pressed with minimal handling. A small portion of the individual parcels are partially barrel fermented in French barriques with the balance fermented in tank. Once fermented the barrel portion of wine is left in barrel for 7 months with some lees stirring before bottling. This minimum intervention in the winery is designed to preserve quality and the fresh fruit flavours typical of Sauvignon Blanc.

Late Harvest Riesling:

We have a small area of 0.6ha from which we aim to make a late harvest style. In the vintages to date we have produced full bodied fruit driven wines with enough botrytis to enhance the wine and a delicate acid finish that prevents any "cloying" often found on hot sites.
Winemaking:
The fruit is left out to develop noble rot, shrivel and dry which intensifies the flavours but reduces the yield to less than 30% of what would normally be produced. A temperature controlled slow stainless steel fermentation is employed with the finished wine aged for a short period in old French barriques.