Intro to Clark Estate Riesling – Clark Estate Riesling from Marlborough in New Zealand is another elegant white wine from Clark Estates. This is a classic off-dry Riesling with appealing floral aromas and a refreshing light fruity palate with a hint of sweetness. Full tasting note and wine making – Made in a style to showcase the spectacular flavours of our Riesling grapes the Riesling is low in alcohol & has an intense acidity balanced by a generous natural sweetness. These attributes come together beautifully to create harmonious, fresh and vibrant wine, the Clark Estate Riesling. Their Riesling vines are allowed to develop in their own way with minimal interference in their natural and their naturally high acidity balances out the sweetness creating the perfect balance on the palate. After stopping the fermentation at 8%, the wine is left on the yeast lees which falls to the bottom. The wine is stirred 8 times over several months to create a generous complexity. The producer – After long careers as soldier and nurse, Peter & Jane bought a few sheep paddocks by the Black Birch Stream in the Awatere Valley and established 20 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, from scratch. From 1999 to 2002, the early days, they set about learning how to manage a vineyard. To help fund the venture Peter would often be working in Wellington during the week leaving Jane to train the 22,000 new vines on her own. They would work together all weekend spending the night in their old caravan. In 2003: dark clouds and a silver lining – after two modest harvests the new crop was completely destroyed by a late spring frost with no grape income for another 18 months and more travel for Peter. Facing the reality of the hardship in operating a vineyard they faced the possibility of giving up. However, the story took a different turn and the hope of realizing their dream was renewed. In 2003 their son Simon Clark joined the team after completing his BVO and working vintages in Australia, Germany and New Zealand. In 2003 they relocated an old villa from Blenheim to the vineyard and achieved Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand accreditation and in 2007 daughter Sarah joined them in the sales and marketing role and her sister Jen also helps with wine dispatch. In 2008 – The Clark Estate/Boreham Wood label is born as they convert their entire crop in their own wine. With 12,000 cases and a global recession we had to get better at selling. By early 2009 the gamble paid off with major new export customers in the USA and Australia and a growth in sales in New Zealand. In 2012 Simon took the reins as head winemaker and they won their first gold medal for their Sauvignon Blanc setting the scene for the years to date with more medal winning wines. Drink with – Delicious with lightly spiced Asian foods or as an aperitif.
