2024 Damsteep Riesling
A beautifully balanced Riesling from a warm and long growing season. Grown on a rolling foot hill of clay soils at Damsteep vineyard. Handpicked over three weeks. Wild fermented in oval stainless steel tanks or large format neutral barrels. 15 months on fermentation lees, bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Concentrated, dense with a long line of invigorating freshness. A balanced, moorish dry Riesling from a wonderful vintage in North Canterbury.
Drink now and enjoy the odd bottle over the next 12 years.
- Damsteep, at the foot of the Omihi Saddle: dense brown-orange clay interbedded with sandstone and limestone.
- Whole bunch pressed, fermented with a Damsteep vineyard yeast starter, 15 months on lees, unfined and unfiltered.
- Dry at 2.1 g/L: lime, wild honey, orange blossom and beeswax; drink to 2034.
- Harvest date
- Hand harvested on April 10, 11, and 16 2024
- Harvest
- 6.7 Tons
- Yield
- 2.2 kg/ vine
- Brix (harvest)
- 22.0°
- TA (harvest)
- 8.1g/L
- pH (harvest)
- 2.97
- Bottled
- 450 cases bottled in one lot under screw cap on June 26 2025.
- R. S.
- 2.1 g/L
- T. A.
- 6.3g/L
- V. A.
- 0.46g/L
- pH
- 3.25
- Dry extract
- 20.4 g/L
- Alcohol
- 13.0%
- Total SO2
- 51 mg/L
- Closure
- screw cap
- Vineyard area
- 2.2 hectare
- Clones
- GM110, GM198 and GM239 clones on 101-14 rootstock
- Certification
- certified organic with BioGro in 2017 and certified Biodynamic with Demeter in 2023
Tasting Notes
White gold hue this dry Riesling has fresh and complex aromas of lime, wild honey, orange blossom, ginger, and bees wax. The palate is dense, integrated, and powerful and finishes with a satisfying balance of ripe fruit and fresh acidity. This wine is un-fined and unfiltered and bottled with minimal racking. This wine retains CO2 from fermentation and a fine sediment may form in the bottle. Decanting could be considered. Drink now to 2034.
Vineyard
Vineyard
Fruit for this Riesling is sourced from our Damsteep Vineyard which is located in the north east of Waipara Valley at the foot of the Omihi saddle in North Canterbury. This hillside vineyard was planted in 2000 on clay and limestone rich soils. The soils in the Riesling vineyard are very dense clay brown to orange in colour and inter bedded with sandstones and subordinate limestone horizons. This 2.2 hectare hillside vineyard has a vine density of more than 5000 vine per hectare and is planted with GM110, GM198 and GM239 clones on 101-14 rootstock. It was certified organic with BioGro in 2017 and certified Biodynamic with Demeter in 2023.
Season
Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. This continued through December which allowed good spring growth. Some intermittent rain around flowering meant fruit set was disrupted and developing bunches were small. Warm dry weather from January to April provided low disease pressure and good ripening for developing grape bunches. Cool nights in March retained acidity and slowed ripening. Hand harvest began in early March where small clusters of ripe concentrated disease free fruit was received. Settled weather continued right through harvest which was completed on April 16.
Winemaking
Fermentation
Whole bunch pressed using a long and gentle press cycle. The pressed juice was settled for 48 hours then racked to small stainless steel tanks and large format neutral barrels for fermentation. Yeast used for fermentation was propagated from a Damsteep vineyard starter. Fermentation and maturation on lees for 12months. The parcels were then combined in tank, sulphites added and settled for a further 3 months on fine lees. Bottled without fining or filtration.
Bottled
450 cases bottled in one lot under screw cap on June 26 2025.
Distributed in Australia by Principal Wine.