Ceres Bannockburn Black Rabbit Central Otago Riesling 2018

Ceres Bannockburn Black Rabbit Central Otago Riesling 2018"Showing brilliant purity and poise, this exquisite Riesling shows white flesh nectarine, rockmelon, lemon peel and apple blossom aromas on the nose, leading to a focused palate that is superbly concentrated. The wine flows along a fine textured line of fruit extract and phenolics, with crisp, lacy acidity balancing the sweetness and providing mouthwatering freshness. The flavours are long and sustained. This is a beautifully refined, taut, medium

"Showing brilliant purity and poise, this exquisite Riesling shows white flesh nectarine, rockmelon, lemon peel and apple blossom aromas on the nose, leading to a focused palate that is superbly concentrated. The wine flows along a fine-textured line of fruit extract and phenolics, with crisp, lacy acidity balancing the sweetness and providing mouthwatering freshness. The flavours are long and sustained. This is a beautifully refined, taut, medium-sweet Riesling with a fine line and crisp acidity. The wine offers subtle sweetness which is perfectly balanced by vibrant acidity, finishing lingering and mouth-watering. Elegant yet powerful with a gorgeous flowing mouthfeel. At its best: 2019 to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Oct 2018

"Medium Riesling with lime, citrus, wet stone, mineral and subtle floral flavours. An initial suggestion of sweetness is perfectly balanced by fruity acidity to give the wine a pleasing tension while helping to drive a lengthy finish" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Dec 2018

"Bright, very pale straw colour with slight green hues, youthful in appearance. The nose is beautifully pure and pristine with aromas of white florals, lime fruit and subtle notes of fresh herbs and very delicate mouthwatering mineral notes. This shows excellent intensity and is an expression of elegance and refinement. Medium sweet to taste and light-bodied, the palate has a very finely concentrated and taut core of white florals and lime fruit, along with subtle notes of herbs and honey, with thirst-quenching minerals. The palate is tightly bound and intensely packed, but refined in proportion. The wine flows along a fine-textured line of fruit extract and phenolics, with crisp, lacy acidity balancing the sweetness and providing mouthwatering freshness. The flavours are long and sustained. This is a beautifully refined, taut, medium-sweet Riesling with floral, lime, honey and mineral flavours with a fine line and crisp acidity. Serve as an aperitif and with fruit over the next 4+ years. Fruit from the ‘Black Rabbit’ vineyard, fermented in stainless-steel to 10.7% alc. and 34.6 g/L RS, TA 8.0 g/l and pH 3.1" Raymond Chan, Oct 2018

The fruit for this wine was grown on Black Rabbit vineyard on Cairnmuir Road, Bannockburn. Black Rabbit is a 3.46 hectare site on an elevation of 250–315m with ancient geology approximately 400 million years old. The site is a steep North-facing slope with windblown schist loess over bedrock schist. The Riesling was planted in 2008.

A warm start to the season saw an earlier than normal bud burst and a lack of any damaging frosts. An excellent calm, warm period of weather during flowering and fruitset meant a decent crop was set. As the summer evolved it became clear that the months of November to January were setting records for how dry and hot they were. At one stage it looked likely we would be harvesting in late February, which is unheard of, but a very cool and wet February and March saw the season saved. There was no disease pressure despite the wet as the start of the season had been so dry. The grapes were harvested starting in mid March and after a compressed harvest all the grapes were in the winery by mid April. The fruit was in excellent condition and full of flavour.

The fruit for this wine was harvested on the 13th March in excellent condition. The fruit was destemmed and pressed to tank where it was settled for a week, before racking slightly cloudy for ferment. The wine was fermented with native yeasts, the wine stopped naturally with 35g/L of residual sugar. The wine was filtered but not fined before being bottled in June.