Esk Valley Estate

History
The Esk Valley Estate is New Zealand‘s fifth largest winery, situated in the north of Hawkes Bay at Bay View. The winery was established in 1933 by Englishman Robert Bird under the name Glenvale. Fortified wines were the mainstay of Glenvale‘s production until the late 1970‘s when the brand Esk Valley was created for a range of premium table wines. A casualty of price wars in the early 1980s, Glenvale went into receivership and was subsequently bought by Croatian born George Fistonich, who refounded it as Villa Maria Estate. Esk Valley Estate is now run as an independent Hawkes Bay winery with its own vineyards and wine making team.


Winemaking
Esk Valley Estate sources grapes from both its own vineyards and from contracted vineyards in Hawkes Bay. Wine is made in small batches using a combination of traditional techniques and modern technology; the 70 year old open topped concrete fermenters are still used for the production of hand-made red wines. Chardonnay's are barrel fermented and red wines are barrel aged for a minimum of one year with the Reserve styles spending at least 18 months in French oak barriques.

Most of Esk Valley wines are blends from selected vineyard sources but occasionally special single vineyard wines are produced which express the specific 'terroir' from which they came. Examples include Central Hawkes Bay Riesling, and 'The Terraces' from the home vineyard in Bay View, consistently rated as one of New Zealand's finest red wines.

Vineyard

Pale yellow/green in colour. Very aromatic nose reminscent of melons, apples and tropical fruits. The palate is full bodied with a trace of residual sugar and a subtle oak influence which adds complexity to the rioe fruit flavours. [read on...]

£11.10

This is a full bodied and rich style of Sauvignon Blanc. The warmer nature of the region provides the wine with an amalgam of ripe tropical fruit flavours. [read on...]

£9.75

This is a rich and full bodied style of Pinot Gris. On the nose the wine is reminiscent of ripe pears with hints of pineapple, while on the palate it is rich and satisfying, testomony to the excellent fruit that was used in its production. [read on...]

£9.90