Included in this newsletter:
Newsletter Relaunch
de la terre Update
2018 Vintage report
“Passionate Palates” Winter Tasting Weekends
Winter Reds 6 Pack Offer
Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction 2018
In our Next Newsletter

Newsletter Relaunch
We apologise for our lack of communication over the last few years. We really appreciate the support you’ve shown us and we hope to redress the situation with this relaunch of our newsletter and the introduction of our new “Passionate Palates” Winter Tasting weekends.

We will send you up to four newsletters each year to let you know what’s happening in the vineyard, winery and café, special events and celebrations, new wine releases, wine specials, some not-too-technical information on various aspects of winemaking, food and wine matches we have tried, and anything else we think might be of interest to you.

de la terre Update
Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to in the last wee while:

• We now know so much more about our vineyards and continue to evolve the wine styles to suit our grapes
• We now have a national distributor, focussing on fine dining restaurants and fine wine retailers
• We continue to work with our Chinese customer, having sent another container over last year, but the China market is quite uncertain at present so we will see what happens there.
• We’re about to send a wine order to Canada, and are looking for a distributor in the UK.
• We now sponsor the Culinary Arts team at St John’s College, Hastings, and each year we employ some of the students in the café. The Culinary Arts team also hold a fund-raising Degustation Dinner each year and we match our wines with their dishes. The dinner this year will be in November 23^rd – we will tell you more about this is the next newsletter.

2018 Vintage Report
2018 was a vintage of extremes for us.

Firstly, it was the second warmest growing season on record since 1990. Secondly, significant rain during the critical months of February, March and April were well above average for Hawkes Bay.

We experienced very hot dry weather right through to about the end of February – lack of rain and very warm temperatures caused our domestic bore to run dry and (roof) water shortages at the winery.

Then the rain hit!

However, having our grapes on sloping terraces and at higher elevation than most Hawkes Bay vineyards again paid huge dividends for us…..

Without doubt, what was looking at one stage like a really difficult vintage has turned out to be almost certainly the best vintage we have experienced since taking control of our new vineyard in 2013.

To read the full 2018 Vintage Report, click here.

Passionate Palates Winter Tastings
We’re proud to launch our “Passionate Palates” Winter Tasting Weekends  – your opportunity to participate in very focussed tasting events with Tony.  These events will be full of information, good wine and good food, so bring your friends to share the experience.

Each year we’ll hold 2 Winter Tasting weekends, with 2 events per weekend that focus on specific aspects of winemaking. The events will vary each year, although we hope to make the Vintage Wrap an annual event.

Below is an overview of this year’s events. Please go to our website to open the full invitations for all these events. Feel free to forward the invitations to friends and family who may be interested in participating.

This year, each event will cost $40 per person. Numbers of participants at each event are limited so we suggest you organise your tasting group early. Please contact us at sales@delaterre.co.nz or phone 06 8743445 to book your place on any of the tastings. We do require pre-payment of the entry fee to confirm your booking.

2018 Vintage Wrap, Saturday August 18th

An informative tasting of unfinished wines from tanks and barrels – the special characteristics of 2018 vintage, where the wines are up to now and what will happen to them before they go to bottle. The tasting will be followed by a sumptuous grazing table full of tastes and textures.

The Craft of Bubbles, Sunday August 19^th

How we make our Methode Traditionnelle, including tasting of wines at each step of the process and a chance to try your hand at riddling and disgorging. Lunch will include food that works well with champagne styled wines.

Viognier 5 Ways, Saturday September 22^nd

We’ve talked about this for so long, now we’re finally doing it! Find out how the vineyard and winemaking processes vary to produce markedly different wine styles from the same grape variety, same clone, same vineyard. Food matches will be served during the tasting, with seasonal platters to share.

The Italians, Sunday September 23^rd

We’re teaming up with winemaker, Jenny Dobson, to present wines from three Italian grape varieties – Fiano, Barbera and Montepulciano. The tasting will be followed by an Italian-themed lunch with the menu inspired by the three regions these grapes originate from.

Winter Reds 6 Pack Offer
We are offering a 6 pack of red wines at a discounted rate for a limited time. The 6 pack includes a bottle each of our Barbera 2015, Reserve Syrah 2015, Montepulciano 2015, Reserve Tannat 2015, and two older reds that not many people have tasted, Syrah 2010 and Merlot 2010. The normal price for this 6 pack is $235, we are offering it via this newsletter at the discounted price of $199.

Email us at sales@delaterre.co.nz to make your purchase.

Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction 2018
We are participating in the Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction this year – 4 magnums each of the de la terre Cloud Series range: – Cloud Series Chardonnay 2017, Cloud Series Viognier 2017 and Cloud Series Syrah 2016. The Cloud Series is a new range of wines for us. Each wine was produced in very small quantities and has a slightly quirky story behind it. Unfined and unfiltered, these wines are intentionally cloudy. The bottles are hand-labelled by Kaye and are presented in a wine rack crafted by Tony.

Tickets for the Hawke’s Bay Wine Auction are on sale now at https://hawkesbaywineauction.co.nz/event/2018-wine-auction/

In our next newsletter
de la terre Cellar Door and Café Summer season opening October 6^th
New releases for Summer
St John’s College Degustation Dinner November 23^rd
…and more….