Overview
An acclaimed, single-vineyard Marlborough Riesling from Greywacke, combining vibrant fruit, floral perfume and mineral intensity with an off-dry finish. Grown at the organically certified Ashmore Vineyard in Fairhall, the 2023 was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed before fermentation across stainless steel and old French oak. Its combination of concentration, natural acidity and fine residual sweetness has earned strong critical acclaim, including 94 points from Emma Jenkins MW and Cameron Douglas MS.
Vintage
The 2023 season followed a notably wet winter and challenging spring, including several frosts, before an excellent flowering period produced healthy crop levels. Early summer was warm, followed by intermittent wet spells, a dry late February and a settled autumn that provided an extended ripening season. The single Riesling vineyard was harvested in mid-April.
Vineyard
Grown at Ashmore Vineyard in Fairhall, adjacent to the mouth of the Brancott Valley, on gravelly clay-loam soils more typical of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys than the Wairau Plains. This 27-year-old, organically certified vineyard is trained to two-cane VSP, with rigorous shoot and fruit thinning used to regulate yield.
Winemaking
The fruit was hand-picked on the morning of 18 April at moderate ripeness to retain the variety’s natural acidity and aromatic character. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed using a very low maceration press cycle before the juice was cold-settled and racked to fermentation vessels.
Half of the juice was inoculated in stainless steel with cultured yeast and the balance was filled into old French oak barriques for spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation. Towards the end of fermentation, all wine was transferred to stainless steel and fermentation was stopped at 19 g/L residual sugar. The blended wine was then returned to old barrels, where it remained on yeast lees for several further months before bottling in late January 2024.
Producer Tasting Notes
Greywacke: “The bright, fruity scent of fresh nectarine intermingles with perfumed notes of citrus and coriander flowers. A vibrantly fragrant style, layered with a beeswax-like complexity and a subtle thread of anise. The palate is generous with flavours of honeydew melon, Pink Lady apple and candied lemon. A spine of fresh acidity gives vibrancy and balance to the succulent and lingering, off-dry finish.”
Critic Reviews
94 Points — Emma Jenkins MW, Decanter
“Fragrant, with fine florals, delicate citrus, yellow peach, honey/beeswax, peachy, light toasty biscuit and red apple crumble. Light-bodied, medium-dry, quite pithy and textural with good fruit richness and an appealing mid-palate creaminess. Very good balance and length. Good layers here, rich and flavoursome while staying light on its feet.”
94 Points — Cameron Douglas MS
“A completely delicious wine with as much texture and mineral intensity as fruit and youthful power. The wild side of this wine shows through the lees and floral layers and ideas, each underpinned by a backbone of acidity, soil and fruit.”
Tasted November 2025
93 Points — Halliday Wine Companion, Shanteh Wale
“A halo of green apple, schist and mica soils. There are dry, stony riverbed minerals, some Cape gooseberries and preserved lemons. A hint of lime juice. Its powerful aromas are bolstered by a dollop of sweetness that softens the guiding acid drive. This is in a good drinking place, capable of showing off richness with honeysuckle sweetness.”
Published 24 March 2026
93 Points — Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review
“Ripe, almost tropical with mangosteen and passionfruit aromas, this explodes on the palate with sweet exotic fruit. Decadent expression with noticeable sweetness on the palate yet held tightly in check by driving acidity and phenolic structure to finish medium-dry. A blockbuster style of riesling that is packed full of flavour.”
Specifications
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Vintage: 2023
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Producer: Greywacke
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Country: New Zealand
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Region: Marlborough
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Vineyard: Ashmore Vineyard, Fairhall
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Grape Variety: Riesling
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Alcohol: 12%
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Residual Sugar: 19 g/L
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Acidity: 7.1 g/L
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pH: 2.86
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Sweetness: Off-dry
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Vine Age: 27 years
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Production Attributes: Organically certified vineyard, hand picked and whole-bunch pressed
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Fermentation: Stainless steel and old French oak barriques using cultured and indigenous yeast
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Maturation: Several months on yeast lees in old barrels
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Drinking Window: Through 2033+
