The growing season preceding the 2018 vintage was one out of the box, with the warmest December on record and a very warm and sunny January. This was followed up by the warmest February ever on record, needless to say this was a great start to the season for vintage 2018. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though and there were some potential challenges as we closed in on harvest, with some more cyclonic activity in the Pacific that did bring some significant rains to the region.
The great start to growing season over the summer meant that we had really good flavour development quite early. This crucial element, coupled with very careful canopy management meant that our vines produced ripe flavours and that we could pick pretty early. We had all our fruit off early and had some of the cleanest fruit we have ever seen with harvest all completed by the first week in April. The resultant wines have great depth of flavour and fleshiness with purity of fruit, bright aromatics and ripe, juicy acidity.
All fruit for this wine was hand-picked and hand-sorted. The grapes were destemmed, crushed then air bag pressed, some parcels had lengthier skin contact time. Free run and pressings were fermented separately. Fermentation took place in 58% stainless steel plus 42% in old French oak for texture and complexity. The tank portions underwent slow, cool ferments to retain aromatics. Barrel ferment parcels carried out in large format neutral oak on full lees, lees-stirred regularly. All parcels given time on ferment lees to provide texture and complexity. This wine has not been fined and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and anyone else who loves authentic, hand-made wines. Alcohol 13%; pH 3.3; TA 6g/L.
This wine is finely structured with great purity & length of flavour and a lovely fleshiness. Lifted aromas of nashi pear, raspberry, red apple and white florals follow on to flavours of the same along with savoury undertones which are balanced by fine, supple texture and lingering minerality. This release is a dry style which has concentration, balance and great texture with layers of flavour. - Anna Flowerday, TWR
Anna Flowerday hails from McLaren Vale and kicked off her career there amid a thoroughly talented pack of young winemakers in the mid-1990s. She worked for Hardys for seven years all up, culminating in an aromatically formative stint at Leasingham in Clare Valley. It was during her time at Hardys that she met and fell in love with Jason Flowerday, a third-generation viticulturalist from Marlborough. Eventually they struck out together and in 2003 bought Te Whare Ra, home to one of the oldest vineyards in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979. Together they manage the estate with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and have cemented this region's reputation not only as an impeccable source of aromatic whites but also as a force to be reckoned with for both Pinot Noir and Syrah.