Rosé 2024

Tasting Notes

A delicate rose-iridescent pink hue introduces this elegant wine, with aromas of red berries, red apple skin, and tamarillo, enhanced by floral, spice, and citrus notes. The palate is fresh and silky, suggesting layers of lime, fennel, strawberry, red currants, and summer herbs. A velvety, strawberry sorbet mouthfeel is offset by a savoury backbone—this delicious medium-dry wine has a sliver of sweetness balanced by a vibrant touch of salty minerality and a lively, clean finish.

Accolades

• Cameron Douglas MS: 94 pts
  "Fragrances and flavours of red melon and fresh raspberry, there’s a mix of wet stony soil and nettles then a fresh tropical punch quality. Crisp and dry with very fine chalky textured fruit tannins, a backbone of acidity layers in energy and saline suggestion. A lovely example, ripe and fruity, textured and lengthy. As always a wine of balance and impact, best drinking from 2024 through 2027."

In the Vineyard

Like most North Island regions, we experienced one of the most challenging vintages in our history here at Brick Bay. The lack of sunshine hours in the waterlogged winter of 2023, and indeed for much of that year, led to extremely poor bud initiation in 2024. The resulting very light flowering meant our volumes of fruit were extremely low, and although the summer eventually arrived, there was little fruit to ripen. Our yield for this vintage was generally the lowest for decades.

In the Winery

Due to our low cropping levels in 2024, we were fortunate to benefit from our winemaker-led collaboration with an addition of Waimauku fruit to augment our Brick Bay volumes, while retaining our signature Brick Bay style. The grapes were gently pressed, left on their skins for a short time to achieve the desired colour and flavour profile, then vinified at cool temperatures in stainless steel. Stop-fermentation achieved an exceptional fruit/acid/sugar balance in this wine.

Cellaring Potential

As with most rosés, this wine is designed to start drinking over the summer following harvest. However, ageing accentuates the dried fruit characters. Enjoy chilled with a wide variety of summer food flavours, or simply as a refreshing aperitif.

Vintage Notes

Region: Matakana & Waimauku
Harvest Period: 14–22 March 2024
Bottling: 12 September 2024
Composition: Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot
Alcohol: 12.6% ABV
Total Acidity: 7.2 g/L
pH: 3.25
Residual Sugar: 5 g/L
Closure: Screw cap
Bottle Size: 750ml
Production: Limited release of 216 dozen bottles