ASTROLABE
GROVETOWN SPATLESE Riesling 2023 750ml

Marlborough’s temperate long growing season is perfect for riesling. The riesling for my Spätlese/Medium Riesling is grown closest to our house at our organically run Farm vineyard beside a grove of fruit trees including citrus, stone fruit, cider apples and a fig. We watch the fruit ripen from our kitchen window. 

We only have one block of riesling, but I make two very different wines by taking the fruit down two different paths in the winemaking. For my Medium Riesling, I have chosen to stop the fermentation while the alcohol is low and when I thought the sugar and acid were in perfect balance. I am referencing a little the classic European style of riesling from Germany and trying to showcase how different combinations of sugar, acid and alcohol can work in different balances, provided they are complimentary. I have retained a reasonable amount of natural sugar but left it in balance with the very bright acid structure. 

I have used only the free-run juice in the winemaking to keep the structure, clarity and brightness where I want it and to minimise the coarse roundness that comes with the skins. This is an aromatic, fruity wine where the sugar is held in tension by a crisp acidity. The lush flavours of this wine will be further enhanced by toasty, honeyed bottle development with cellaring. 

Simon Waghorn — Winemaker