JC
Description
Minerality, sea salt and lime are the backbone to this wine. Dedicated to textural acidity, Rarangi presents fresh vibrant aromatics of citrus and lemongrass. The wine is bone dry to accentuate the mineral purity of this unique vineyard. Perfectly matched with freshly shucked oysters and light Thai dishes infused with coriander and lime zest.
Certifications
Alcohol
13.0%
Analytical data
dry
Product Range
Established in 1994 and named after the landmark Wither Hills range that borders our vineyards, our expert team grow and craft exceptional wines that reflect our unique sense of place. Complex and full of character - this is the beauty of Marlborough in a glass.
Vineyard
The wines of the Wither Hills Single Vineyards - Rarangi, Ben Morven and Taylor River - test the senses and demonstrate the superb synergy between region, vineyard site, variety and the winemaker. These vineyards define our unique sense of place. Planted in 2002, this vineyard lies just 600m from the ocean’s edge below the foothills of the Richmond Ranges and offers a unique micro climate and coastal soil composition for wine growing. Where the vines are cooled by the delicate sea breeze, Rarangi Vineyard combines a spectacular site situated a quarter of a mile from the coastline, interlaced with native wetlands and a unique mixture of soils - pea gravels to uplifted seabed. Rarangi is also home to our Wetlands Conservation Project.
Winemaker
Matthew Large
Viticulture
Vintage 2021 was similar to vintage 2020 in that we had a beautiful warm summer with lower the usual rainfall. The season started cold with 10 frost events where the temperature dipped below 0°C. Budburst and flowering both came early this season and we saw this across all varieties. A cool period around flowering had a big effect on flowering numbers and hence we recorded one of our lightest vintages for some years. The early season trend continued right through to picking, where we harvested the first of our fruit on the 22nd Feb 2021. (2nd earliest ever) The good weather and low yields meant more open bunch structure and lower disease pressure which was great. Ripening at harvest was slower than usual despite the lower yields, this was mainly due to the cooler weather during harvest following the warm summer. Low yields, great weather and slow ripening resulted into excellent fruit flavours and great intensity. Another stunning Marlborough vintage.