create new classic wine

Great wines have a basis of fruit weight, concentration, length and sense of place – characters which can be formed only in the vineyard.

Our primary task at Tambo Wine is to grow grapes which express the site and take the essence of that fruit and then preserve it as wine.

The character of the fruit from Tambo vineyard reflects the relatively soft temperate maritime climate.
The winemaking starts in the vineyard monitoring the fruit, assessing the balance of fruit and tannin ripeness, acid structure and flavour development.

The picking decision is shared with the winemaker and the grape grower based on an understanding of the year and the possible wine style.

The winemaking style employs scrupulous hygiene, intuitive rather than formulaic methods and sensitivity to the nature of each year’s fruit.

A range of techniques are employed including:

• gentle pressing to minimise coarseness and maintain fruit purity;
• native yeasts to allow site expression;
• refrigeration to control the temperature of ferments, retain aroma and to naturally settle out coarseness;
• gravity transfer under gas to minimise disruption;
• small batch ferments to maximise control of style and wine character; and
• restrained oak barrel use to match the softness of the fruit.

Each year is a new journey with nature to match the fruit character with winemaking and each year has the excitement of discovery.

Each year develops an increased understanding of the fruit from different areas of the vineyard and different times of picking.

Perspective and patience are critical in working vine by vine, barrel by barrel, year by year.