Halcyon Days 2023 Friends Indeed

11% alc Wine of Aotearoa 

Biogro certified Organic, no additions.

Stylistically between a rosé and an orange wine. 

Friends indeed is a cyclone wine and a one off from 2023. 

After the cyclone we weren’t sure if we would have any grapes from Hawke’s Bay other than the Osawa Chardonnay. We called our good friends Al and Karl at Grava vineyard in Martinborough and asked if they had any spare organic fruit and they offered us some 115 Pinot Noir. Olly drove our little vintage truck down and helped Al and the crew handpick the Pinot then drove it straight back to be whole bunch pressed and naturally fermented as a pale rose. The Pinot Noir has beautiful bright red fruit and a lovely energetic acidity.  

After natural MLF it aged on lees till we blended it with some Sangiovese Rose and skin fermented Chardonnay to give it structure and texture. An East coast version of our Heliacal Rise with a bit more power and orange hue.

The blend is 82% Pinot Noir from the beautiful Grava vineyard Martinborough Wairarapa, 10% Sangiovese and 8% Chardonnay from Osawa vineyard Mangatahi Hawke’s Bay. Both vineyards are BioGro certified organic.

The vintage ended up being better than we thought and we picked some excellent Chardonnay, Sangiovese and Chenin. But what it proved is that in times of need we have an amazing wine community in Aotearoa, thanks Al and Karla for being there.

Bottled 2 August 2023

Blend: 82% Pinot Noir, 10% Sangiovese, 8% Chardonnay

Analysis pH 3.44 TA 5.76 FSO2 0 RS 0.39 Alc 11%