Non Vintage Cuvée Rose
Oyster Bay
Hawke's Bay Cuvee Rosé
“Fragrant cherry and fresh strawberry aromas, accentuated by a finely bubbled palate with a crisp, refreshing finish.”
- MICHAEL IVICEVICH, CHIEF WINEMAKER
The philosophy of Oyster Bay is to produce fine, distinctively regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours. Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée is made to capture and showcase New Zealand’s unique cool-climate varietal intensity by embracing the best of modern New World winemaking technology. Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Rosé is a wonderful marriage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The elegant and zesty Chardonnay fruit brings finesse, and the fragrant rich Pinot Noir brings soft red berryfruit characters to the wine. We select premium Chardonnay clones with small, intensely flavoured grapes.
These low-yielding vines are grown on ancient alluvial river terraces and produce concentrated, pure varietal flavour along with a natural zesty acidity, which is ideal for creating Super Premium sparkling wine. The Pinot Noir vines are grown on alluvial silt soils to provide uniform ripening and fruit concentration. These Pinot Noir grapes are carefully handpicked to protect the fruit flavours, which also deliver a delicate colour to the wine. The lively bubbles in the wine are a result of natural secondary fermentation, which brings to life the delightful and refreshing character. Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée, New Zealand at its sparkling best.
Winemaking
Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Rosé is a skilful blend of 20% Pinot Noir/80% Chardonnay.
The Pinot Noir grapes are handpicked. The fruit is gently crushed and then pressed for a short period of skin contact which gives the wine its colour and imparts delicate fragrant flavours. The wine then undergoes a primary fermentation in tank.
Free-run Chardonnay juice is cold settled to partial clarity, followed by a slow, temperature controlled primary fermentation at 14°C for several weeks to develop the elegant, assertive flavours.
The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines are blended to create the Cuvée base wine. This is inoculated with neutral yeast, to ensure the pristine and aromatic fruit characters are retained in the wine, and then allowed to undertake a secondary slow fermentation in tank. This process naturally imparts delicate bubbles in the wine. Following a short period of lees contact, the wine is bottled young to capture the fresh, varietal intensity.
Sustainable Winegrowing
As a founding member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, we have always recognised nature as the true producer of our wines. We are conscious of our environment and we work hard to identify sensitive areas such as wetlands, streams and native vegetation to ensure that our vineyard practices do not affect the plants and animals that inhabit these areas. We minimise our water usage through our state-of-the-art computer models and soil moisture probe technology. We look after our soils by having inter-row round cover plantings (rather than bare earth), and by throwing our clippings underneath our vines, to provide a botanically diverse ground which encourages beneficial insects into our vineyards.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Oyster Bay Sparkling Cuvée Brut
VARIETAL COMPOSITION
| 20% Pinot Noir, 80% Chardonnay |
VINE CLONES
| PINOT NOIR: | Clones 115, 667, 777 Burgundy clones were selected to provide ripe flavours and tannins, colour and good structure to the wine. These clones provide diversity of flavour and concentration, and perform well in our climate when matched to uniform soil types and low vigour rootstocks. |
| CHARDONNAY: | Mendoza, 2/23 and Clone 6, Dijon B95 Chardonnay clones were selected to provide smaller berries and more flavour intensity. Medium to low vigour rootstocks were matched for suitability to clone and soil. |
APPELLATION
| CHARDONNAY: Hawke's Bay, New Zealand |
| PINOT NOIR: Marlborough, New Zealand |
SOIL PROFILE
| CHARDONNAY: Moderately fertile, alluvial deposits over gravelly subsoils with low water-holding capacity. |
| PINOT NOIR: Uniform, moderately fertile, silt overlaying clay loams with moderate water-holding capacity. |
CLIMATE
| New Zealand’s unique cool, temperate maritime influenced climate produces intensely flavoured grapes with zesty natural acidity. |