Kate Radburnd at her winery in Bay View. Photo / Supplied
Kate Radburnd at her winery in Bay View. Photo / Supplied
Kate Radburnd is a very patient person.
The winemaker knows that good things take time and her 2018 Chardonnay and 2018 Syrah are proof in a bottle that her patience has paid off in a big way.
Radburnd Cellars on Main Road at Bay View opened for business in late 2017. The 2018 vintage is the first bottled vintage and includes a 2018 Merlot Cabernet ready in August.
Radburnd has business partners who have "skills I don't such as marketing and sales".
"My job is to make the wine. That's what I love do to. We have a clean slate here and work with small parcels of grapes from Hawke's Bay. We deal with people who understand what we want to achieve," Radburnd said.
"We make ultra premium wine which is given care and attention every step of the way.
"We take small parcels of grapes from low yielding vines which are hand picked and chilled overnight. Then they are hand sorted on a vibrating sorting table before further processing. The chardonnay is gently whole bunch pressed. The reds are de-stemmed then sorted again, resulting in whole berries transferred to open fermenters.
"The chardonnay comes from two sites, the Mangatahi site is inland and elevated and later ripening, while Bridge Pa ripens chardonnay beautifully with their red metal soils.
"The Syrah comes from the Bridge Pa Triangle and the Dartmoor Valley and was hand harvested in the second week of April."
Radburnd Cellars uses 100 per cent French oak barrels which have been seasoned for three years. This leeches out any harsh greenness in the oak and leaves a subtle oak flavour.
The beautifully packaged Radburnd Chardonnay. Photo / Supplied
Radburnd's love of wine began around the kitchen table with her mum and dad.
"They loved wine and I was introduced to it at an early age. I was always going to do something with science and winemaking was the perfect choice. It's always intrigued me and I love the excitement of every year's vintage. Head down, hands on, it's fantastic.
"From mid to late February I spend a lot of time in the vineyard monitoring, tasting the fruit, checking on its condition and checking the weather. 2020 will be incredible. The weather was perfect."
Radburnd says her winemaking has changed over the years.
"I used to be more focused on heavy, more bold styles whereas my interest now is absolutely in elegance and subtlety of aromas and flavours. That's what we focus on now. These wines will only get better in the bottle and you can easily cellar them for five to seven years."
The exclusive hand made wines are all about quality and not quantity.
"We absolutely believe Hawke's Bay makes world-class wine and we want to be making them. We are so excited about them".
I was lucky enough to taste both the chardonnay and the Syrah. They are outstanding and easily the best I have tasted — perfect to share with friends and family on a special occasion.
The Syrah is just delicious. It's not a heavy hitter, instead it is elegant and fragrant with a lovely smooth texture and the taste goes on and on long after the last sip.
The chardonnay is fresh and full of beautiful flavour.
Radburnd and her team can be very proud of their achievement.
The wine is available from Radburnd Cellars, 724 Main North Rd, Bay View, Napier. If you would like to do a wine tasting phone ahead on 6511 851 or go to the website radburndcellars.co.nz
An elegant Chardonnay which focuses on the beautiful structure so evident in this grape variety. Pristine fruit and balanced acidity are the backbone, enhanced with seamless texture and mouthfeel. Citrus notes, particularly grapefruit pith abound, gracefully supported by sweet French oak.
Syrah
An elegant Syrah which combines both exotic and red fruits supported by a backbone of fine tannins. Pure fruited and fragrant, with blueberry and cardamom spice. This Syrah has lingering length and persistence of flavour, a hallmark of this variety.
