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| MARLBOROUGH Ross and Barbara Lawson founded Lawson's Dry Hills in 1992, when they decided to make wine themselves rather than selling the grapes that they had been growing since 1980. Their first vintage, a Gewürztraminer off their own land, was just 15 tons and managed by Ross from an old tin shed at the back of the property. Their Gewürztraminer has gone on to be recognised as one of the country's finest and soon established Lawson's Dry Hills on the national and international stage. Later plantings have seen the production of Sauvignon Blanc - "a star", according to at least one writer - Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Their philosophy is to produce wines of great character at a good price. The winery has one other distinction. Ross believes it was the first in the world to seal all its bottles with screwcaps as a means of avoiding cork taint. |
| Lawson's Dry Hills Website |
| Gewurztraminer |
| Dry in style, this wine combines a concentrated and floral bouquet with ginger and lychee flavours, rich spice on the palate and a long finish.
Grown in the adjacent Lawson and Woodward vineyards, both sites are clay based soils in the lee of the Wither Hills. The cooler than usual season lead to slower ripening and excellent acid / pH balance.
The free run juice was cool fermented in stainless, while the pressing were fermented in seasoned barriques using wild yeast. This portion also underwent malolactic fermentation. The stainless fermented portion provides fragrance and elegance, with the barrel portion bringing complexity and weight to the blend. |
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| Sauvignon Blanc |
| 5 Stars (top rating) in Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide: "Consistently among the region's finest Sauvignon Blancs, this is a powerful and stylish wine, vibrantly fruity, intense and structured. (In blind tastings it can remind me of Cloudy Bay.)
Sourced from six different sites in Marlborough's Wairau,Waihopai and Omaka valleys, encompassing a diverse range of soils and microclimates which provide us with parcels of grapes that have a full range of flavours and characters. The 2006/2007 growing season started with cool weather over flowering that limited vineyard yields.The summer progressed in fairly typical Marlborough fashion with fine dry weather that lead into the all important sunny,warm drys - cool nights patterns over the harvest period. A small portion of this wine was fermented in French Barriques and underwent malolactic fermentation. This wine exhibits tropical and passion fruit aromas. Crisp citrus and gooseberry flavors are balanced with good palate weight and a clean fresh finish. Goes well with all seafood especially greenshell mussels and fresh, pan fried fish. A goat's cheese tart with a simple green salad is another wonderful combination. |
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| Pinot Noir |
| Ruby in color, this complex pinot noir balances rich earthy cherry flavors with firm palate structure, supple tannins and a long finish. A terrific match with pan seared duck breast and mushrooms. Pink-roasted rack of lamb.
This wine was produced predominantly from the clay soils of the Brookby ridge vineyard that over looks the Brancott valley. Close planted clone 115 and clone 15 Pinot Noir have produced dark berry fruit of great concentration and structure.
Fermentation takes place in small batches and was followed by maturation in new (25%) to four year old French barriques.
A combination of shoot thinning, leaf plucking and bunch thinning was utilized throughout the growing season to ensure even ripening and a balanced crop level. |
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