2022 Passito and New Tasting Room.
(this was first sent to newsletter subscribers in October 2022)
2022 Passito
This years Passito has just been bottled and will be released over Labour Weekend. However, for those who receive this newsletter, I am giving you the first opportunity to purchase it. This wine will not go up on our website, so you need to let me know directly: david@heronsflight.co.nz. And then I will let you know how to pay for what you order.
For those of you who don't know what this wine is, let me summarize: when we harvest our Sangiovese, we fill a drying rack with whole bunches. These remain on the drying shelves for about a month as they slowly dehydrate. This increases their sugar content significantly.
When we feel the bunches have shrivelled sufficiently, we crush the bunches and put them in containers for fermentation. This lasts about a month, with the skins removed after about a week. The fermentation will naturally stop when the alcohol reaches about 15-17%. Yeasts create alcohol but don't like living in it. So they die off about this level- leaving a large amount of unfermented sugar.
With the 2022 Passito, the alcohol is 17% with 80g/L of unfermented sugar. The wine is very dark with loads of tannin. The closest comparison is port. And one drinks it not in wine glasses but small port like glasses.
We bottle it in 250ml bottles and costs $40/bottle. Last years Passito sold out in 3 weeks. For those interested, you are also able to include other of our wines with your order. Just let me know.
Our new Tasting Room- on schedule to be open at Labour Weekend
We have designed and created a wine-specific tasting room attached to our winery. And looking into it. The building is surrounded by a large deck which looks over our vines.
The bar is made from rammed earth with a very large timber slab as the counter. We have created some very interesting details, but I won't describe them here. You'll just have to visit.
We have a license so visitors can enjoy a glass of wine on the deck, or around the bar looking into the winery. And food? Yes, we'll have food. But we are not a cafe. Mary and I learned about wine way back when most of the wineries were in west Auckland. Most were informal places where you talked to people actually involved in the winery. And if you wanted something to eat, you grabbed a bottle of wine, some cheese from a deli fridge, some bread and headed outside to a picnic table.
This experience is what we wanted to recreate. So we have a deli fridge with lots of interesting sliced meats, cheeses from the south island, olives and preserves, local chocolates and things like this. You'll grab a basket and fill it with whatever takes your fancy. And then sit outside or inside with a glass of one of our wines, or some interesting white wine which I have chosen. Eg, we have one of my favourite sauvignon blancs, made by the winemaker who actually put sav blanc on the map years ago.
We are not doing a grand opening. Rather, we'll just open and see how visitors like the experience.
I should add that winetastings and group tutored tastings are still a priority for us. And for groups, we'll generally conduct these by going down steps into the winery and holding these there. For those interested in tutored tasting, let me know and I can send you details on how we do these.
International orders
We have recently linked with an international airfreight company to send our wine, easily, to various countries overseas. We are in the process of creating a link on our website to direct people to this company. In the meantime, the company is called Wine Collective Direct. Simply go to the website and locate Heron's Flight. All orders are in the currency of that country and immediately include all shipping costs.
It really is very simple.
As people keep asking, we'll be doing another FYO towards the end of November or early December.
And we are creating a special Wine Club, which will be launched at Labour Weekend. More about this in my next newsletter.
Whew, that's enough for now, I think. All the best.
David