The small, organic Lime Rock vineyard, is quite unique in New Zealand. Planted to hard Limestone (containing some oyster fossils over 25cm long!) on an elevated (approx. 250mt) north-facing slope in the cool climate of Central Hawkes Bay. Such sites are very rare, limestone for minerality, cool climate and elevation for retention of flavour and acidity, and north-facing slope for ripeness. The limestone is covered by a thin layer of volcanic ash so imagine "Sancerre meets Mt. Etna".
This bone dry white is one of the rare 1% of NZ savvys to be made from hand-picked fruit, and what is also impressive for us "single site wine lovers" is that the vineyard expression is protected by the use of "neutral" yeasts.
The minerality of the soil shines through with "wet-stone" and "flinty" nuances, and although the fruit is quite concentrated, there is a beautiful austerity and steeliness that make it so refreshing.
This is a new wine to Australia that shows a "new" approach to NZ sauvignon blanc RANDALL.
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