Hans Family Estate - Spirit of Marlborough 2016

The 2016 vintage shows finesse and detail, precision and complexity, full of harmony, power and grace. Darkest crimson with black core. So intense, the fruit seems to engulf you. Ripe but not overblown on the nose, all damson, blackberry. The palate is powerful but beautiful balanced, with juicy acidity and fine tannins tempering the glossy black fruit. Dark and pure and overwhelming in its purity. Remarkably balanced - juicy acidity with fine-grained tannin are persistent and abundant making for a mouth-watering length and freshness. Expansive, heady and rich, an elegant blockbuster.

Vineyard: Wairau Valley - Rapaura Prime location. One of the warmest sites in the Wairau valley, special micro-climate from adjoining Wairau river. Naturally frost protected.

Vine Age Years (planted 1996): 20 years

Plant Density: 5,500 vines/ha. The vineyard is close planted with high vine density. Row spacing: 2m. Vine spacing 1m.

Rootstock: Cab Franc/Sauv = 3309 GM9.2, Merlot = 101.14 PN

Clonal Mix: Cab Franc = 214, Cab Sauv = UCD 7, Merlot = BDX 481

Trellising: VSP. Hand-pruned. Spur.

Canopy management (to produce optimal mature and healthy fruit and for wine making): shoot thinning to 12 shoots/vine, sucker removal, shoot positioning, partial leaf removal around fruiting zone on the east side (morning sun), lateral removal, trimming, top and sides bunch thinning, partial leaf removal around fruiting zone on the west side (evening sun), removal of all second sets.

Viticultural Practice: certified organic with BioGro

Yield tonnes/Ha: 3t/ha. All hand-picked and selected at less than 1 kg per vine with careful handling of the bunches to the on-site winery. No trucking.

Perfectly healthy, destemmed grapes allowed for a long cold soak to extract the superb flavours and beneficial antioxidants of the skins. I then let the must naturally progress through a long wild yeast fermentation and extended post maceration.

After gentle pressing, the young wine was transferred into partly new French Barriques where it underwent the second natural malolactic fermentation. The minimal oxygen exchange over a long 30 months of maturation in the same barrels made all the difference. The wine and wood had time to marry together to form a richer, more complex and textured wine, able to age for many years in the bottle. We like you to enjoy this stately flagship wine at its full potential, very much like a “Grand Cru” Pomerol with many years of bottle ageing. And so we did, under perfect condition in our barrel hall for a further 3 years but without the hefty price tag! No fining. No filtration. Natural goodness.