Since its establishment in 2012, Takapoto Estate’s accomplishments are monumental, taking out the Pinot Noir trophy and New Zealand producer of the year at the prestigious IWSC awards in 2017 & 2018. Alex Coldicutt took on the role as Winemaker in 2019. Producing single vineyard wines with minimalist intervention and natural fermentation to display the magnificent terroir these vineyard sites have to offer.

Alex walks through the world-renowned vineyards in Central Otago, tasting the grapes and selecting the different rows and clones of Pinot Noir to harvest to create these wines. The bunches of grapes are left to hang on the vines until they are completely developed and bursting with flavour. They are then transported up to the winery in the Waikato where they are de-stemmed and nurtured through fermentation with wild yeasts. The grapes spend several weeks extracting colour, flavour and texture from the skins before being gently pressed into French oak barrels. After 11-15 months, the oak characters have integrated, and secondary fermentation is complete.

The individual barrels are tasted thoroughly and blended into Single Vineyard wines and a blend of the two Central Otago vineyards. The wines are left to further develop in the bottle and are released when the tannins have softened and integrated and are drinking brilliantly. You may find some sediment in the bottle, this is because the wine is then bottled unfined and with minimal filtration to preserve its texture and purity.

Shop Wine // Wine Tastings at The Cabana