Devinewine

The 2004 was a different vintage with more tropical fruit and not so herbaceous which some like and some do not. It will also change over the next months as 2004 is still very young. The higher end wines have that length you talk about so try our Cellar selection which is huge. If anything 2004 was a better vintage with ripe fruit and good yields where 2003 was low yields and a short season due to the frost in Spring but very intence style with ripe fruit also, remember we are maritime and every season is different.

Acidity Yes you are so right and yes even our reds have acid levels, our biggest problem in NZ is at harvest making sure we get the acid level down to a balanced number and this some time means having high brix levels and then alcohol in the wine. A good problem as long as you have good ripe fruit.

Storage and maturity of the wine is anaerobic with oxidization only taking place with the small amount of air that is already in the bottle weather it be cork or Screw cap. At the moment cork is not giving you that guaranty, so I suppose why should screw cap? They have been using screw cap since 1971 and the technology has increased since then. You are right we do not know how long screw cap will last and after 30 or 60 years we may then know but the material it is made of seems to work long term in other uses, aluminium, and also the inner capsule has a polyethylene liner which is the same material we store blood in at hospitals and this has a special tin foil on top of it. It all comes down to weather you are happy with oxidation occuring in your wine that is uncontroled and this is not good for wine, also TCA, do you want to open that Cab up in 20 years to find it has cork taint? or so oxidized there is no fruit left or the acid is gone with the colour? Also these cork are sterilized and made inert, how do you think they do that?? At our winery we also have big Cabs which need storage and we use screw cap.

2004 was 9 mill cases so the up has occured, remember 2003 had a frost, still NZ is the same size as Jacobs Creek! We used to be 60% drink at home but now that looks like it is going to be arround the other way. You should look for our VM Clifford Bay as that is one of the best out of NZ only 200 cases come here. Barrel, the whole lot is done in stainless.

Hi sorry I did not finish off your question. Diurnal swing depends on the area. In Hawkes Bay we are not looking for a huge one and usually get between 8 and 10, where in Marlborough where we grow Pinot we get 10-13, we even have an area which we are looking into at the mo which has a 14-16 rate. Rain fall, Gisborne is late 500mm, HB is similar and Marlb is mid 400 up to mid 500mm. 60% fall in the winter as these areas do not get snow on the plans. Growing degree days are Gisborne late 1400, HB 1400, Marlb 1200and Central Otago 1050. If you go into France it is 1300 to 1400 and California is 1700-2100 so a lot more heat units in California. Soils, being old river beds 150 years old in HB with some areas being old volcanic run off which is 10,000 years old, top soils a silt and loam with some clay areas. Also have a type of clay called Papa which is very dry and we have to drill for 200 feet plus to get water, this is in Clifford Bay with river beds on top and fine silt on top of that. Valley's are mainly silt loam leading down to rivers where we get gravels ranging in density. Not much limestone, plus different to France anyway.

"Maritime" I need to be carefull here as I always say we are the only true maritime climate in the world and then an Hawaiian will read this and be after me!! What I mean is we do not have continental influences as you do in this country and in Australia and Europe, these countries they talk about Maritime influences with coastal winds during the morning blabla. Where in NZ we are an Island an we are 1000 plus miles from anything so maritime is all we have, no Continent is near us that can influence our growing conditions daily. So the East coast of NZ is where it stays dry as the weastly patterns move the cold southerlies up the Island but the mountain range down the middle takes the snow and the rain an the sea breeze holds in there. Starting from the north, Hawkes Bay has cool sea breeze arround the coast so SB and Chard grow well here but 30 mile in land is where we grow our reds on 20 yard deep gravels, the sea breeze is usually to weak to lower the temperatures here and the day time temp is kept up, but cool nights due to been inland give us intensity of fruit. Summer ranging from 65-95F mainly 70-85F Marlborough has two valley's the first and the largets is Cloudy Bay where we grow 80% of our grapes and like HB the sea breeze weakens as it goes in land so we get different styles of SB depending on how far from the coast you are. Also we have old river beds and here is where we also make use of these conditions to get our best SB on some of the bonest soils, where in the valley's arround the mountains we grow Pinot/Riesling to slow the ripening down as the soils are not so gravelly and cooler nights give us big diurnal levels. We also grow SB in these areas so as to get different styles. All these different growing styles give us a better blend at the end of the day and give us some insurance from bad seasons. Clifford Bay is 30 min to the south and this is a valley that is 1 to 2 miles wide with vineyards planted 200 yards from the coast and then 20 min up the valley vineyards sitting under 3-4000 foot mountains. Wind is a problem here and this also holds back ripening, hot days and cool nights due to the mountains also creat a difference, so great wine to use as blend as it gives more steely characters. I hope this helps a little.

Hi Varieties out of NZ will still be strongly directed at SB as this is where we have done all our planting but Pinot noir is going to grow in strength but due to the high price of this product it is going to be via restaurants and high end wine shops. Like the rest of the world, Pinot noir under $20 is usually not that good year in year out, so I think NZ need to be in the $20-$30 and offering quality that is worth $30 plus. We will make some under $20 but it will be no better than any one elses. Pinot gris is also a wine that is growing in strength in NZ so keep your eye on that one especially if we can sell it for under $15. Also Riesling as this is one of the best food wines and as this grows with popularity then we will sell more. We also do good Merlot and Syrah wines but the price is going to be higher than $20, other wise green flovours appear. We do one at $13 which is great for the money so go have a look for it. One of the great things about NZ wine weather it be red or white is the acid and the available fruit, this is to me the big difference and this is what the world markets like as we are so much into drinking and eating as one. You need acidity to go with food and if it does not have fruit it will not blend in with the different styles we are all cooking.

HhI AGAINSales in the USA have gone up and that is not just due to the screw cap, it is due to the company we import through, Vineyarbrands, who are behind this brand plus the quality of the wine and then of cause been talked about a lot due to the screw cap. Our sales growth has been higher than most so that is great. "HOW TO OPEN" The screw cap is one cylinder so when it goes on the bottle at bottling time it is placed on the top neck of the bottle. It then goes into a Stelvin machine which cramps it and makes the indents and creates the 1/3 screw cap and 2/3 neck seal. So when you first get a bottle you hold the whole screw cap and neck seal and move it slightly and it will move as one, and loosens up, if you move it to hard it will crack the seal and the bottle is now open so do it carefully. You then hold the bottle in your left hand presenting the label to the customer and with your right hand you grip the bottom 2/3 and not the top 1/3 and turn it into your self anti lockwise,(right tit to left tit) you make sure the label stays directed at the customer and it will take a good turn towards your self to crack the seal completly. When you bring your hand back the other direction you take your grip off the bottom 2/3rds and use your thumb to screw the top 1/3 half open and then it is only a small twist to take the top 1/3 off. That was hard work trying to explain that so hope you all understand it?? try a few bottles first!!