Settlers planted the first vines in Marlborough in the early 1870s, though commercial winemaking did not take hold until the 1970s. Sauvignon Blanc is the region’s primary grape with 37,000 acres planted and Pinot Gris, which occupies just over 7,000 acres, is the third-most planted just behind Pinot Noir. The region is blessed with a long growing period, with fall days generally warm and sunny.

In 2006 Brian Bicknell and his wife Nicola purchased Mahi Winery in Marlborough, New Zealand from French sparkling wine producer and New Zealand pioneer Daniel Le Brun, who emigrated to Marlborough in 1975. Mahi, which translates from the indigenous Maori language to mean “your work, your craft” produces wines from several neighboring vineyards.

The grapes to make this wine come from three vineyards throughout Marlborough, each providing different characters to the wine: The Twin Valleys in a cooler site provides structure; the fruit from the Byrne vineyard has beautiful dark fruit and the last site, in Ward, adds complexity due to its varied soils.

After hand-harvesting, the grapes were predominantly destemmed before going to small vats for cold soaking prior to fermentation, allowing the extraction of soft tannins and color at the juice stage rather than in the harsher alcoholic stage during and after fermentation. The grapes were then fermented solely with indigenous yeasts. During fermentation the skins and juice were hand-plunged on average three times per day. When finished the wine was taken straight to French barriques where it aged for 13 months. The wine was then gently racked, blended, and lightly fined with organic egg whites before bottling.

TASTING NOTES

Beautiful Pinot character with floral notes on the nose, cherry, light toast, and plum. On the palate this wine is supple, with traditional Pinot flavors of rose petals, raspberry tea, cherries, and a hint of vanilla. The structure is there, but not in the way: medium body, fine tannins and a long finish.

FOOD PAIRING

Pinot Noir, particularly from the New World is very food friendly. Enjoy with ham, chicken, turkey, fish, or cassoulet. Tomato-based dishes, beans or lentils will go along with this wine.

Charcuterie, Chicken/Turkey, Duck, Fish-full flavored (salmon/tuna), Grilled preparations, Ham, Pork, Roasted Root Vegetables, Tomato Sauce, Vegetables