Cambridge Road
Martinborough, New Zealand
In 2006, after spending years travelling the globe making wine, sailing and building ships Lance Redgwell and his family purchased the Cambridge Road property in Martinborough, New Zealand. The vineyard has Pinot Noir and Syrah planted in 1986 that has been organically farmed since the 90s, a rarity in this part of New Zealand. In 2010 they built their winery and since then Cambridge Road has been known as a leader in naturally made, terroir driven wines in the area. Currently they have 4 acres of Pinot Noir and 1.5 acres of Syrah and are double planting the vineyard to increase plant density. They also buy fruit from their friends and neighbours with the general philosophy to only buy organic fruit from within 30 kilometres of the winery. They do this in order to keep their environmental footprint as small as possible.
Lance has always practiced Biodynamics with dense plantings of cover crops between the rows and a healthy living ecosystem surrounding all the estate vineyards. Full Biodynamic preparations are used in the vineyard and the lunar cycles are closely followed. The vines are dry farmed, harvests are by hand and the winemaking is incredibly hands off, often with no sulphur used at all. After harvest the grapes are cooled overnight before being destemmed and transferred to tank by gravity. An ambient cool maceration process then takes place for up to five days, when fermentation starts with indigenous yeasts.
Martinborough has a challenging but rewarding climate. Winters are often damp and cold, spring sees extreme winds, summer is hot and dry and autumns can be difficult. The Pacific Ocean and the alps of the southern island lie just over the hills and mountains that the vineyard is surrounded by. Autumn nights are cool resulting in wines with structure, finesse and tight acidity. Soils consist mostly of wind-blown loess overlaying silts, gravels and ancient river stones interspersed in places with clay. Cambridge Road is part of the Martinborough Terrace Appellation
2016 The Naturalist
Lance’s Pet Nat Made is made up of 50% Pinot Gris and 50% Sauv Blanc with zero additives. Juicy and fleshy and sealed with a crown cap. The fruit is co-fermented with indigenous yeast and sent to bottle before it finishes its' ferment to create the fizz. This wine usually has a few days of skin contact for texture, stability and color. 8 weeks in stainless steel and 6 months in bottles before release. No added sulphur.
2016 Cloudwalker
Lance’s Orange wine is made up of 70% Sav Blanc, 20%Pinot Noir and 10% Riesling. Organic fruit is fermented on skins for 27 days and sealed with a crown cap. Juiciness comes from the Pinot Noir and Riesling tempers the structure of the skin contact. No added sulphur.
2014 Di Dove Sei
Made up of 60% Syrah and 40% Pinot Noir from old vines at the home vineyard. The grapes are picked together as a field blend and fermented and aged in ceramic eggs and 14 year old barrels. The unique vineyard at Cambridge Road provides perfect ripening conditions for Pinot Noir allowing the Syrah to get just barely ripe creating a wine with intensity, structure and fruit power. Very low in sulphur.
2016 Hillside Vineyard Project Pinot Noir
This wine is part of an investigation into a relatively new site on the fringe of the Martinborough Appellation. Located 6 kilometres south of town on a beautifully exposed western slope with soils comprised predominantly of loess and clay. 100% whole bunch fermentation and only gentle foot treading on rare occasion. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with absolutely no additions or sulphites used.
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Ellement Wine & Spirits
Jones & Co. Wine Merchants
Kenaston Wine Market
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