Description

Surely the king of wine varieties, this style shows the versatility of Riesling. This is an overtly sweet, dessert style of wine. The wine is produced by leaving the grapes on the vines well after the main harvest has finished to ‘concentrate up’ with the help of the botrytis fungi.

Says Josh Scott – “Vineyard managers like nothing better than being asked to “Do nothing to those 5 rows, we want them to go a bit feral…”. The grapes are not sprayed and are left to get fungal infections (botrytis) and left on the vine for as long as absolutely possible.

The great thing about a mouldy old rotten grape is that it hides what can only be described as liquid gold. The unorthodox approach then continues in the winery, normally an aromatic grapes get a 2-3 hour press cycle. The grapes for this wine were loaded into the press, the press switched on. Three days later approximately 500L of liquid gold sat in the press tray. The juice was lightly filtered to get rid of the mould, it was then fermented for approximately 3 months before the yeast finally gave up and admitted defeat – we then filtered it again to make sure the wine was in perfect condition for bottling.”

@allanscottwines are based in Marlborough, New Zealand and are a true family business.  Allan has nearly 40 years in the wine business, and his wife Cathy is a 5th generation Marlburian!  In 1990, they launched Allan Scott Wines. Allan remembers it well. “We were one of a small number who made up the first wave of the independents.”

Allan and Cathy’s three children have grown up to become valuable members of the business.  Elder daughter Victoria is responsible for Marketing, while their son Josh is Chief winemaker, taking responsibility for the variety of wines the winery produces. Younger daughter Sara has also trained as a winemaker, but works mostly in the vineyard. She has followed her father’s specialty as a viticulturalist and, according to Allan, has an almost instinctual approach to the industry.