The developments at Akarua in Bannockburn, Central Otago continue. Akarua is one of the largest vineyard owners with over 120 ha including the ‘Home’ block at Cairnmuir, plantings in Felton Road, Lowburn, and Kawarau, the company recently added the 25 Steps vines to the holdings, and now the Pisa Range vineyard which has some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the district. General manager Kathryn Pettiit reports that this could be a vineyard that suited to organic conversion. The breadth of vineyard resource gives even greater options in winemaking now,
Also, winemaker Andrew Keenlyside has made a new wine ‘Pinot Rouge by Akarua’ especially for the on-premise market, an early release 2018 vintage wine made with minimal intervention and very low inputs including very low sulphur. Akarua have responded to the demand for this style of wine which adventurous sommeliers are supporting. However, Akarua remains true to making classical Bannockburn Pinot Noir as its signature wine, a label that has seen numerous gold medal and trophy awards. Here, I review the latest release, the 2017 vintage. www.akarua.com
