Stonecutters cellar door is open again!
Following last years “dip the toe” trial of the cellar door we've decided to, once more, open our lovely “tin shed” winery, garden and vineyard for public enjoyment. As previously, our opening hours are Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 4pm. For those who called in last year, do come again and see how the wines have developed; for newcomers, be sure of a warm welcome from either Roger or Lucy (or maybe even both!).
Once more, the vines have woken and the beautiful young shoots again light the vineyard with a soft, almost iridescent green. So far we've only had one sharp frost which called for tractor driving through the wee small hours. Roger's face suffered frost burn - an unfortunate red blotchiness - but the vines were undamaged save in a few localised patches.
On the home front, we've had a major change. At the end of March Lucy returned to her professional life in the environmental management field, accepting a job with the Wellington Regional Council, based in Masterton. So throughout the winter she's been doing the well dressed commute. Roger reeled somewhat at the loss of her daily input - we'd worked together on the vineyard for over ten years - but muddled through vintage with the help of Alissa, “the Quiet American”. Some lovely 2006 wines will emerge in the fullness of time.
The winter pruning was pretty much a two man affair - Roger and Johnie Gray from Greytown - with a major acceleration when a work gang came in and tied down 3000 vines in a single day. This wiped most of the worry lines off Roger's brow. Alas, the age and sunshine wrinkles are proving more resilient.
We still have stocks of the 2004 Pinot Noirs so we're holding back on releasing the 2005 for a while yet. The 2005 Pinot Gris is also still available so the 2006 vintage is also in reserve for further development.
A new addition from 2006 is a very small batch of Sauvignon Blanc - well ripened and tropical in flavour - which we made partly in response to the frequent “We'll try your Sauv Blanc please” requests from cellar door visitors last summer. This second white, available only from the cellar door or via the website, nicely rounds off the tasting lineup.
Our discount on case lots is still on- $20 off the retail price.
Look forward to seeing you over the summer
Lucy and Roger
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