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Early Harvest wine is the combination of fresh thinking, and winemaking skill that has resulted in new style of wine with an unexpected benefit.
Crafted using the first picked grapes of the season to create a new refreshing style of wine naturally lower in calories than other brands.
The naturally occurring benefit of low calorie in no way compromises the taste or traditional varietal characteristics of the wines.
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Crafting of all wines is a process involving fruit selection, crushing, fermenting and maturing before bottling. First picked grapes yield less sugar whilst retaining full fruit characteristics to produce a wine that is lighter in colour and also naturally lower in calories.
The fruit used for Early Harvest is picked earlier than fruit picked for traditional white wine varieties such as Chardonnay and Semillon blends.
In spring and summer, the shoots grow longer and the grape flowers begin to form grape berries, a process called 'berry set', which then increases in size.
In late summer or early auumn, the ripening process starts. It is now that sugar, flavour, colour, and many compounds develop within the berry cells. Berry size and bunch weight increases dramatically. The stage where the grapes start to ripen is called 'veraison'.
In autumn the vintage commences.
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The ripening process may take 4-7 weeks. When the grapes are of a suitable composition to make a particular style of wine, the harvest date is declared and the bunches of grapes are picked.
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Early Harvest's winemakers bring a wealth of experience, and are a major asset of the wine label.
Mark Robertson ex. of Matua, Clare and vintages in France, has made Winestate's "Winemaker of the Year" and has taken out Air New Zealand's "Chardonnay of the Year" Trophy.
Kirsty Glaetzer, ex. Yellowglen, Krondorf and Wolf Blass, began her career as a biotechnologist before consolidating her skills as a principle winemaker at Foster's, overseeing the vintages of a large number of wines and labels.
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