Wine & Juice from
Runner Duck Estate
and Heron's Flight
Vineyard; Matakana
Heron's Flight Vineyard
We are the only vineyard in New Zealand specializing solely in
Italian grapes. The grape variety Sangiovese means 'Blood of
Jupiter' and can be traced back 3000 years. Dolcetto means 'little
sweet one' and refers to the berries. As a wine it can be traced
back to the 16th century.
Sangiovese 2005
With our Sangiovese, we have discovered that the flavour
profile
of the wines is enormously influenced by three climatic elements:
heat, dry/wet, and most importantly, the clarity
of light.
When they meet in a certain relationship, the wines exhibit a
purity of dark berry fruits illustrative
of the very best of new
world wines. When the fruit has this profile, we mature the wine
in a combination
of new and one-year-old French barriques for 12
months. The result is a dark, rich and sophisticated wine which
has the ability to age for at least 10 years.
The colours are very deep, with flavours of jammy blackcurrant
and prunes, mixed with black pepper
and very ripe and soft tannins.
Very concentrated.
And the wine is regularly reviewed as one of New Zealand’s top red wines.
Dolcetto 2008
As an early ripening variety, we can concentrate on its harvest and fermentation well before the Sangiovese is picked.
The berries are small and concentrated, and provide the wine with high extract and colour. In Italy, the fruit is often fermented for only a few days before pressing, and then matured in tanks without any contact with oak. The aim is to release the wine young for almost immediate consumption.
To us, this is a pity. With a little effort, the fruit can reveal
a level of complexity, extract and tannin
not often seen in red
wines harvested from mid to late March, ie, very early.
Dolcetto was first made at Heron’s Flight in 2004. Every year
since then, we attempt to get the fruit
as ripe as possible and
mature the wine in a small percentage of new French barriques.
The results
have been very interesting.
All the wines have a definite varietal characteristic – lifted aromas of spiced cherries and black doris plums, with a slight bitterness on the back palate of marzipan and burnt cedar. And these flavours are complemented with very ripe tannins and great extract.
We are very excited about the potential of Dolcetto on our site,
and as a significant red wine throughout
New Zealand.
II Rosso 2008
When these same climatic elements meet in a different balance, the Sangiovese fruit takes on a completely different flavour profile. Rather than being fruit-driven, the wines reflect, in a very real sense, the terroir of our vineyard. The wines are earthy, floral, and have a great sense of ‘place’. They are definitely not ‘fruity’ wines. We age these wines in older French barriques for about 12 months so that this character is not overwhelmed by oak.
These wines are rich and complex, but without the dominant primary
fruit of so many ‘new world’ wines.
They have a savoury bouquet
with a complexity of dried berries and brambles. Much like a very
good Chianti. As Dr Riccardo Castaldi, from ‘Le Romagnole’, describes
this wine: ‘This is a delicious expression of the character of
Sangiovese, very old world.’
To distinguish these two wines, we bottle the former under the
name Sangiovese only, and label it with
a pewter heron.
The latter wine we call Il Rosso Sangiovese. The il rosso is a reference to the lighter version of Brunello di Montalcino released after one year and called Rosso di Montalcino. (Brunello is released five years following the vintage).
Runner Duck Estate
The 3 hectare vineyard is located in Duck Creek Road Matakana,
and was planted in 2003. It comprises about 1ha of Syrah, with
the remainder being in Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Pinotage.
Two wines were produced in 2007, a Syrah and a Red Blend. The
name Runner Duck comes from their street location and
also
from the name of the Indian bird of that name- reflecting the
home land of Clyde and Farida Cooper.
Syrah Syrah 2007
Harvested mid April 2007; ph3.62; TA 6.4 Alcohol 13.5%
20 months in a mix of 75% French and 25% American oak.
Lovely cherry bouquet with a hint of tobacco; it is savoury and
spicy on the palate, with
hints of Thai black pepper and dark plums.
Match with smoky foods.
Red 2007
Discover strawberries and blackberries on the nose, with cherries
and mushrooms on the palate.
A hint of eastern spice . Firm tannins.
Match with soft cheese or red meats.
