Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"Finale is part of our reserve series and is only made in exceptional years, being dependent on specific conditions at the end of the season leading to noble rot. Modelled on a French Sauternes using traditional Bordeaux techniques, the wine is a Semillon/ Sauvignon blend. Only the most beautifully raisined, perfectly botrytic bunches were selected to make this wine. A small amount of very concentrated juice was then obtained from these grapes and put into new French artisan oak barriques (50% new), where the two varieties were left to ferment separately. The wine was then matured in these barriques on its natural deposits of yeast lees (sur lie) for 12 months, prior to blending and bottling.
On release it has a bright gold hue. A rich tapestry of aromas surge from the glass, dried apricot, honeycomb, and lemon curd interwoven with hints of toffee apple, coconut, and BBQ pineapple. The mouthfeel is unctuously decadent, multilayered, and textural, caressing all areas of the palate. Full bodied and generously proportioned, yet balanced with a core of invigorating acidity, ensuring the wine retains focus and finesse, leading to a prolonged and harmonious finish. 182 g/l RS."
Reviews for previous vintages below…
Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, October 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Fantastic bouquet of preserved stone fruits, honey and honeysuckle, moments of elderflower and beeswax, exotic fruits and grapefruit. Creamy, slippery textures touch the palate first followed by a core of fruit flavours that reflect the bouquet, some fragrant baking spice moments, high acidity, plenty of sweetness, balanced, exotic, fresh and lengthy. Best drinking from today and through 2029."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2019 Vintage)
"A wine with a real 'Wow!' factor, the 2019 vintage is light gold and honey-sweet (146 grams/litre of residual sugar). Grown in North Canterbury and made in the classic Sauternes style, it was matured for two years in French oak barrels (50 per cent new). Fragrant, with an invitingly honeyed bouquet, it is mouthfilling, with concentrated stone-fruit and honey flavours, a slightly oily texture, and great richness and harmony. Drink now or cellar."
5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, September 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Flavours that suggest a medley of dried fruits, including pineapple, apricot and peach with a drizzle of honey supported by enough acidity to prevent any suggestion of cloying. A luscious, decadent dessert wine."
Rated Excellent, 5 Stars & 95/100 NZ Wine Rater, May 2023 (2019 Vintage)
"Quite a stunning bouquet with intense, complex, savoury aromas of lavender, gooseberry, apricot, lanolin, candle wax, and plenty of toasty, vanilla oak. Medium bodied, honeyed, and lush with plenty of acidity to balance and a long, vibrant finish. A well-poised wine with plenty of enjoyment factor."
5 Stars & 96/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, January 2020 (2017 Vintage)
"Super rich and opulent, the wine shows dried apricot, Manuka honey, orange peel and toasted spice aromas on the nose, leading to a wonderfully concentrated palate that’s fabulously sweet and creamy. It’s lavishly expressed with a lengthy delicious finish. Made from botrytised sauvignon blanc and semillon; matured in barriques. At its best: now to 2025."
94/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, October 2020 (2017 Vintage)
"Portuguese tart, dried pineapple, passionfruit pulp in syrup, walnuts, slight sweet grass and herb. Unctuous but with punch of Sauvignon green and a solid acid cut, marmalade and quince paste, spice and apricot nectar. Long and sweet, but bright and clean too. Nicely done."