The Gimblett Gravels Wine-growing District in Hawkes Bay has an intriguing and storied history. The 800ha area is characterised by arid, stony gravels laid down over millennia and then exposed by a huge flood in 1867 that altered the course of the Ngaruroro River. The infertile soil once deemed a wasteland is today the most important site in New Zealand for making classic age worthy red wines – particularly of the Bordeaux varieties and Syrah.
The Gimblett Gravels vineyards have an ability to deliver concentration and ripeness like no other region in New Zealand. The inland location is warmer and the gravelly soils act as a thermal blanket, retaining and radiating the sun’s heat back into the grapes. In low vigour soils, a struggling vine focuses its finite energy into ripening grapes with ripe tannins and remarkable flavour intensity.
