Quartz Reef
Situated in the heart of the Central Otago wine region, Quartz Reef produces and specialises in premium sparkling wine, pinot gris and pinot noir wines.
Quartz Reef blends the proven winemaking talents of Austrian-born Rudi Bauer, whose pinot noirs have won a host of gold medals in New Zealand and Australia, and Clotilde Chauvet, whose family own the Champagne house of Marc Chauvet in France.
“…Central Otago, where young winemakers have a reputation for late night carousing, which is at odds with rural New Zealand’s once stuffy image…The 1999s such as Felton Road Block 5 and Quartz Reef show that extra savoury dimension that Pinotphiles seek once they have satisfied themselves that a region is capable of producing authentic Pinot Noir fruit flavours.” - Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times, Feb 2001
“In Central Otago, every day is a holiday. This landscape is so fantastic and the region is so strikingly beautiful and it’s a bonus to grow grapes so well here.” - Rudi Bauer
A HISTORY OF QUARTZ REEF
Central Otago is New Zealand’s youngest and most dynamic wine region. Our first release was in 1998, and in this short period we have already gained international recognition.
The largest quartz reef deposit in New Zealand lies beneath the vines at Bendigo Station. From 1862 the historic town of Bendigo was mined.
Now the sun-drenched north facing slopes are set to become famous again - for the production of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chauvet - the methode traditionelle of Quartz Reef. There are currently 15ha under cultivation.
The ‘c’ stands for Chauvet and the ‘b’ stands for Bauer. These elements embody the South Pacific influence, and the blue wave represents Lake Dunstan. Clotilde Chauvet, Rudi Bauer, Trevor Scott and John Perriam are principal partners.
Bendigo is a new viticultural sub-region of Central Otago, and the north-sloping Quartz Reef Bendigo Estate Vineyard has recently released its first single vineyard vintage.
719947 - Pinot Noir 2003
The fruit was hand picked from our Bendigo Estate vineyard and the Pisa Range Estate and Parkburn Terrace vineyards. The winemaking was very much in keeping with the traditional practices from the old world. The winemaker, Rudi Bauer, has combined these techniques, and his personal understanding, to create this wine. This Pinot Noir 2003 shows strong varietal identity and ripeness.
Each Pinot Noir clone (10/5, 5, 115, 667 & 777) was kept separate with 92% being de-stemmed and 8% kept as whole bunches in 6 tonne fermenters with up to 10 days cold maceration. Partly indigenous yeast fermentation peaked at 32-34°C. Post fermentation maceration over 6-9 days, depending on tannin structure, before being pressed and transferred into all French oak, of which are 28% new, 21% 1 year old and 51% 2 years and older. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in spring and before bottling received an egg white fining for final settling, and bottled first week in June.
Tasting Notes:
Colour: Deep red
Bouquet: Dark berry, earthy and complex
Palate: Intense, rich, broad, muscular integrated tannins
Aging Potential: 4 – 7 years
