Domaine | Rippon |
Appellation | Central Otago Lake Wanaka |
Sorte de Vin | Vin Blanc Moelleux ou Doux |
Millésime | 2022 |
Clôture | Bouchon en Liège |
Viticulture | Biodynamique |
Alcool par Volume | 12% |
Volume | 750ml |
Potentiel de Garde dès Millésime | < 15 Années |
Maturation | Cuve en Inox |
Vin naturel demi-doux, pur, frais et élégant. Robe brillante jaune paille avec des larmes aux reflets verts. Nez mûr et poussiéreux débordant de fruits exotiques, fleurs de la vigne et épices orientales. Bouche croquante soutenue par une texture veloutée, et très titillant jeu de va et vient entre le sucré et l'acide. Sublime vin d'accompagnement de poissons blancs, crustacés et viandes blanches en sauce à la crème avec une pointe d'exotisme. Très bien aussi des fromages à croûte lavée et des fromages bleux mûrs. T° de service: 8°C
Wine has been in the Mills family veins and on their dining tables since the late 19th century but the reality of growing their own grapes and wines on their family farm was only realised in the 1980s.
Rolfe Mills, one of the founders of Central Otago’s modern wine industry, served as a submarine lieutenant in the Second World War and was stationed in the Atlantic for a while off the Portuguese coast. Seeing vines on the schist laden slopes of the Douro Valley lit a light bulb in his brain and the possibility of grapes at Rippon was born.
It was not, however, until the mid 1970s that he and his wife, Lois, planted their first experimental vines on their Wānaka farm which, at the time, was home to angora goats. Seeing how well the vines took to the glacial soils convinced him of the potential for Vitis vinifera in New Zealand’s southernmost region. In spite of the negative responses his belief received, Rolfe and a few others in Central Otago, persisted with his dream and, in the early 1980s, Rippon’s first commercial vines were planted, some of the first in the region.
Today, we are the fourth generation farming the land; four of Rolfe’s children working on the farm with a long term committed team and a motley array of vineyard dogs, fifth generation children and a herd of cows.
Having cared for this very special piece of land for over a hundred years, the primary focus of all who live and work on the farm is to preserve the property for future generations and to grow wines that speak clearly of their home: Rippon.
15 hectares of vines, of which 80% are on their own roots, are farmed biodynamically and organically with no irrigation, then hand harvested and treated with care and minimal intervention in the winery. The Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Pinot Noir and Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Riesling are grown from parcels within the single vineyard of Rippon where the vines are over around 15 years old. These parcels have shown to us, over years of careful watching, listening and tasting, that the vines are of an age where they are beginning to be able to articulate clearly the voice of our farm as a whole: Rippon.