Seifried Nelson Gewürztraminer 2024

93 Points (5 Stars) - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, May 2024, New Zealand
4.5 Stars - Michael Cooper, July 2024, New Zealand

Vineyard: Seifried Redwood Valley and Brightwater vineyards
Sugar at Harvest: 21.6°Brix
Date of Harvest: Mid March 2024
pH of Wine: 3.49
T.A of Wine: 5.5g/L
Residual Sugar: 13g/L
Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans: Yes

The unirrigated Redwood Valley vineyard is situated on a gently sloping, north-facing clay site; the vines range in age from 10 to 30 years. Vertical shoot positioning helps to expose the berries to sunlight, thus getting maximum intensity and optimal ripeness.

Sadly our Brightwater vineyard was hit with severe spring frost in late October 2023. This is the first major frost event we have endured in our nearly 50 years of wine production in sunny Nelson! Consequently the 2024 Gewürztraminer harvest was exceptionally light off our Brightwater block.

The Brightwater vines are grown in an extremely stony area of the vineyard where water and nutrient levels are low. This helps us to restrict plant vigour and crop at
low levels. Our Brightwater vineyard is situated 15 km from the coast and is sheltered from the south by the Richmond ranges. The ‘soil’ is a combination of rocks and boulders which is very hard on farm equipment but vital for holding the warmth of Nelson’s sun and for ripening our Gewürztraminer grapes.

2024 was simply an outstanding vintage in Nelson - in fact Hermann Seifried has commented that it is perhaps the very best vintage of his 49 seasons in the top of the South! That from a character not known for exaggeration or embellishments. A dry settled growing season meant fruit was harvested in squeaky clean
condition, with perfect ripeness and flavours.

Gewürztraminer is an early ripening variety with an aromatic, fragrant bouquet. It is naturally a low yielding vine which can produce wonderful concentration and flavour. After harvest the grapes were de-stemmed and left for a brief period of skin contact before pressing. The clear juice was inoculated with a pure yeast strain and then a cool, temperature-controlled fermentation began. After fermentation the wine had a period on yeast lees before it was racked, blended, clarified and stabilised prior to bottling in May 2024.