Previous Vintages
The first commercial vintage under the Tresillian label was harvested in 2005.
The 2005 Cox Block Pinot Gris received Silver in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2005 and then Gold Medal and Supreme White Wine Award in the April edition of Home & Entertaining magazine.
The 2005 Pinot Noir was released in November 2006 with concentrated black fruit flavours, forest floor, cinnamon and mushroom in the mid-palate and an intense white pepper on the back palate. The wine was awarded a Silver Medal in the 2006 Air NZ Wine awards (the top award for Pinot Noir for the whole of Canterbury!) It has subsequently been awarded 4½ stars (Silver Medal) in Wine Orbit magazine July 2007.
The 2006 Pinot Gris showed characteristic ripe pear, white peach, nashi, quince and lychee characters. It was made in a dry style and has the same syrupy mouthfeel that made the 2005 wine so good. It was awarded Bronze in the 2006 Air NZ Wine Awards and then 4½ stars (91/100) (Silver Medal) in Wine Orbit magazine July 2007.
The 2006 Rosé of Pinot Noir was an exciting wine. It had strawberry on the nose and palate with white pepper on the back palate. It was made in the dry style and with alcohol of 11.1%, it made a stunning picnic wine. It was a wonderful match with warm smoked salmon with cream cheese on Ciabatta! It received 4 stars in Wine Orbit July 2007.
The 2006 Pinot Noir was bottled in July and November 2007 and initially had an amazing chocolate character on the nose and in the mid-palate. That initial chocolate aroma softened and integrated over its first year in the bottle to give layers of aroma and flavour. You might find chocolate, elegant black berry fruit, mushroom, tamarillo, cinnamon and forest floor with our characteristic white pepper on the back palate. Its complexity has caused it to be likened to burgundy from the Cðte de Beaune. It is mid-bodied and an amazing intensity on the nose.
The 2007 season was a heart-breaking disappointment for us. We were hit by an air frost in November 2006 that blitzed the young shoots and put paid to all our plans for the vintage. We were able to source some grapes from 3 local vineyards that had escaped the worst of the frost, and made 4 wines.
The 2007 Pinot Gris while slightly lighter than the 2006, had the same white fruit on the nose and palate. It was an elegant wine and earned several medals in local and international competitions.
The 2007 Riesling had fabulous green apple characters on the nose and palate . It has alow alcohol level (11.5%) and is made in an off-dry style (10g/L residual sugar.) This wine is available in 375ml bottles. It was second in its class and top NZ wine in the Small Vignerons Wine Awards in Canberra, Australia in August 2008.
The 2007 vintage marked the first release of Cerelia (named after the Greek goddess of the harvest) our Spätlese style Riesling. This is a delightfully crisp medium/sweet wine with low (9.3%) alcohol and elegant red apple, citrus and honey flavours. It is now showing the first honey characters due to bottle age. We love this wine slightly chilled at any time, but it really is best with a creamy blue cheese and crackers after dinner. This wine is only available in half size (375ml) bottles.
The 2007 vintage saw the first wine from grapes sourced from the Sunnybrae vineyard in French Farm Bay, on Banks Peninsula. Our 2007 Rose d’Akaroa was a blend of Merlot (70%) and Pinot Noir grapes and presented as a lovely savoury wine ideally suited to lobster and salmon dishes.
In October 2008 we bottled our 2008 Pinot Gris from the home block. This wine has all the characters of the 2005 Pinot Gris and was awarded 1st= place in the Pinot Gris competition in Wine NZ Magazine Autumn 2009 issue. We were delighted with this result as we had always considered this vintage to be the equal of the '05.
Our 2008 Dry Riesling from the home block turned out to be a stunner. It had lovely citrus aromas and flavours It earned us our first Cuisine Magazine result. It was awarded 5 Stars and made the Top Ten in New Zealand in the March 2009 issue of Cuisine.
We offered our first wine from the Sunnybrae Vineyard bottled under our new d’Akaroa label. This wine has citrus and interesting floral notes. It is slightly drier that the Tresillian example and was a little slower in developing. The two dry Rieslings earned Bronze Medals within two weeks of bottling and the 2008 d’Akaroa Riesling got another Bronze at the Easter Show Wine Awards.
We also produced a 2008 Medium-Dry Riesling from the Swannanoa vineyard. It was slow to develop but came out of its shell in March '09. It now has lovely citrus and apple aromas and flavours. At 9.2% alcohol, 22g/L residual sugar and crisp acidity, it makes a lovely easy-drinking wine for any occasion.
In March 2009 we bottled our 2008 Chardonnay, made from grapes from the Sunnybrae Vineyard near Akaroa. It is a stunning very lightly-oaked example demonstrating elegant apricot and on both the nose and palate. It has been amazingly well received and has already earned quite a fan club.
The first commercial vintage under the Tresillian label was harvested in 2005.
The 2005 Cox Block Pinot Gris received Silver in the Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2005 and then Gold Medal and Supreme White Wine Award in the April edition of Home & Entertaining magazine.
The 2005 Pinot Noir was released in November 2006 with concentrated black fruit flavours, forest floor, cinnamon and mushroom in the mid-palate and an intense white pepper on the back palate. The wine was awarded a Silver Medal in the 2006 Air NZ Wine awards (the top award for Pinot Noir for the whole of Canterbury!) It has subsequently been awarded 4½ stars (Silver Medal) in Wine Orbit magazine July 2007.
The 2006 Pinot Gris showed characteristic ripe pear, white peach, nashi, quince and lychee characters. It was made in a dry style and has the same syrupy mouthfeel that made the 2005 wine so good. It was awarded Bronze in the 2006 Air NZ Wine Awards and then 4½ stars (91/100) (Silver Medal) in Wine Orbit magazine July 2007.
The 2006 Rosé of Pinot Noir was an exciting wine. It had strawberry on the nose and palate with white pepper on the back palate. It was made in the dry style and with alcohol of 11.1%, it made a stunning picnic wine. It was a wonderful match with warm smoked salmon with cream cheese on Ciabatta! It received 4 stars in Wine Orbit July 2007.
The 2006 Pinot Noir was bottled in July and November 2007 and initially had an amazing chocolate character on the nose and in the mid-palate. That initial chocolate aroma softened and integrated over its first year in the bottle to give layers of aroma and flavour. You might find chocolate, elegant black berry fruit, mushroom, tamarillo, cinnamon and forest floor with our characteristic white pepper on the back palate. Its complexity has caused it to be likened to burgundy from the Cðte de Beaune. It is mid-bodied and an amazing intensity on the nose.
The 2007 season was a heart-breaking disappointment for us. We were hit by an air frost in November 2006 that blitzed the young shoots and put paid to all our plans for the vintage. We were able to source some grapes from 3 local vineyards that had escaped the worst of the frost, and made 4 wines.
The 2007 Pinot Gris while slightly lighter than the 2006, had the same white fruit on the nose and palate. It was an elegant wine and earned several medals in local and international competitions.
The 2007 Riesling had fabulous green apple characters on the nose and palate . It has alow alcohol level (11.5%) and is made in an off-dry style (10g/L residual sugar.) This wine is available in 375ml bottles. It was second in its class and top NZ wine in the Small Vignerons Wine Awards in Canberra, Australia in August 2008.
The 2007 vintage marked the first release of Cerelia (named after the Greek goddess of the harvest) our Spätlese style Riesling. This is a delightfully crisp medium/sweet wine with low (9.3%) alcohol and elegant red apple, citrus and honey flavours. It is now showing the first honey characters due to bottle age. We love this wine slightly chilled at any time, but it really is best with a creamy blue cheese and crackers after dinner. This wine is only available in half size (375ml) bottles.
The 2007 vintage saw the first wine from grapes sourced from the Sunnybrae vineyard in French Farm Bay, on Banks Peninsula. Our 2007 Rose d’Akaroa was a blend of Merlot (70%) and Pinot Noir grapes and presented as a lovely savoury wine ideally suited to lobster and salmon dishes.
In October 2008 we bottled our 2008 Pinot Gris from the home block. This wine has all the characters of the 2005 Pinot Gris and was awarded 1st= place in the Pinot Gris competition in Wine NZ Magazine Autumn 2009 issue. We were delighted with this result as we had always considered this vintage to be the equal of the '05.
Our 2008 Dry Riesling from the home block turned out to be a stunner. It had lovely citrus aromas and flavours It earned us our first Cuisine Magazine result. It was awarded 5 Stars and made the Top Ten in New Zealand in the March 2009 issue of Cuisine.
We offered our first wine from the Sunnybrae Vineyard bottled under our new d’Akaroa label. This wine has citrus and interesting floral notes. It is slightly drier that the Tresillian example and was a little slower in developing. The two dry Rieslings earned Bronze Medals within two weeks of bottling and the 2008 d’Akaroa Riesling got another Bronze at the Easter Show Wine Awards.
We also produced a 2008 Medium-Dry Riesling from the Swannanoa vineyard. It was slow to develop but came out of its shell in March '09. It now has lovely citrus and apple aromas and flavours. At 9.2% alcohol, 22g/L residual sugar and crisp acidity, it makes a lovely easy-drinking wine for any occasion.
In March 2009 we bottled our 2008 Chardonnay, made from grapes from the Sunnybrae Vineyard near Akaroa. It is a stunning very lightly-oaked example demonstrating elegant apricot and on both the nose and palate. It has been amazingly well received and has already earned quite a fan club.
