The New Zealand falcon has been a revered guardian of our vineyards for decades. At our Riverview Vineyard on the banks of the Ngaruroro River in Hawkes Bay, we housed and trained a male and female falcon whose seemingly effortless grace held us rapt for many years.
The only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand helps us with our natural sustainability program by managing pest control operations. To this day we still have a resident falcon who often visits the feeding station we’ve set up as a token of appreciation to this flying celebrity who also graces our country’s $20 bill.
It’s worth noting that just one of these bills will get you a nice bottle of Falconhead to take home…
Classic aromas of rosewater and lychees with a stewed pear and cinnamon spice bouquet. The palate is delightfully balanced, with sweet flavours of Turkish delight,
cinnamon and lychee. This wine is drinking well now but can be cellared.
“The easy-drinking 2019 vintage was mostly handled in tanks (5 per cent of the blend was barrel-fermented). Light gold, with a fragrant, spicy bouquet, it is mouthfilling, with good depth of spicy, peachy, slightly gingery flavours, slightly sweet (9 grams/litre of residual sugar) and smooth. It’s enjoyable now."
Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide
The grapes for this wine came entirely from our Campbell Brook vineyard in Hawkes Bay.
The grapes for this wine were machine harvested and transported to our Riverview winery where they were pressed to stainless steel for fermentation. Yeast used was primarily QA23. An off-dry style was achieved by stopping the fermentation with a little sugar remaining. No oak aging or malolactic fermentation was employed for this wine.
The wine was tankered to our Katikati winery where finishing was carried out.
