Astrolabe The Farm
Dry Riesling
2019
The Farm is my own vineyard, situated in Grovetown, in the lower Wairau Valley. The vines at The Farm are some of our oldest. We dry farm, practise organics and are moving towards organic certification. The old vines in the riesling block are a mix of three different clones. Nowadays, riesling is not so widely planted in Marlborough, but it is perhaps one of the varieties best suited to Marlborough’s cool climate.
A mixture of hand-picked and machine-harvested grapes were fermented with light solids to produce an aromatic, dry wine with attractive citrus and floral flavours. Only the free-run juice was used to preserve fruit clarity and a tight acid structure. I think riesling presents one of the best cellaring wines of all, especially in the screwcap closure, and I expect this wine to age gracefully for many years.
Simon Waghorn — Winemaker
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR/APPEARANCE
Pale lemon.
AROMA/BOUQUET
Lemon honey and lemon zest, green apple and citrus blossom.
PALATE
A light-textured, mineral wine with fresh apple and lemon flavours and a crisp, racy acidity.
AGING POTENTIAL
This wine is crafted to allow for long and graceful bottle-aging. It will reward careful cellaring. However, the wine is already drinking well.
FOOD PAIRING
Pairs well with a wide range of food, from light poultry, pork and fish with beurre blanc to fragrant and spicy dishes.
RIESLING SERVING TEMPERATURE
Lightly chilled.
2019 vintage
94 POINTS
"Apples and white roses, sweet lemon and fresh white peach tea. A fragrant and enticing bouquet. Aperitif style on the palate with a core of tree fruits and citrus flavours, high acidity and long intense finish. White apricot and green apple, honeysuckle, cold stone minerality and a hint of lees and gun flint. A lovely example with best drinking from 2022 through 2030+."
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Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier
4 STARS
"Grown at Grovetown, in the Wairau Valley, the 2019 vintage (4*) is a single-vineyard wine, partly hand-picked. Bright, light lemon/green, it is medium-bodied, with fresh, citrusy, slightly appley flavours, showing good vigour and intensity, and a slightly off-dry (5.3 grams/litre of residual sugar), crisp finish. Best drinking 2023+."
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Michael Cooper
New Zealand Wines: Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide 2022
2016 vintage
4 STARS
“This wine smells just like you’ve walked into an orchard growing lemons on one side and apples on the other. So intense yet so delicate and the palate reflects exactly that. But I’d expect nothing less however from Simon Waghorn, winemaker extraordinaire and all-round riesling rockstar. Crafted from his home farm vineyard in Marlborough’s Grovetown district, it has crunchy acidity, a lift of mandarin, nashi and fabulously flinty minerality. Gorgeous with Nadia Lim’s pulled horopito pork pansotti with watercress pesto.” SEP 17
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Yvonne Lorkin
yvonnelorkin.com
Sustainably certified SWNZ
Vegan