Sileni Estates
2016 Maraekakaho Rd (near Bridge Pa),
(PO Box 2234, Stortford Lodge) Hastings
Ph: 06-879 8768, fax: 06-879 7187
Email: info@sileni.co.nz
www.sileni.co.nz.
General manager/Group marketing:
Pip Austin
Chief winemaker: Grant Edmonds
Sales (NZ): Leanne Amphlett
Wine sales: Cellar door, mail order, retail
Price range: $19.95-$95
Winery tastings: 7 days 10am-5pm
Winery tours: 7 days 11am and 2pm
or by appointment
Winery restaurant: Open 7 days for lunch from 11am, or for private functions
day and evening, ph: 06-879 4831
Sileni Epicurean Centre: Cellar store stocks wide range of gourmet foods and wine
Vineyard accommodation: The Lodge at Sileni Estates; for groups of up to 10
Cook school: Regular programme of
tutorial and hands-on classes throughout the year
Sileni Estates – one of the showpieces of the Hawke’s Bay wine industry – suffered two severely frost-affected vintages in 2001 and 2003, but was able to crank up the production to 40,000 cases in 2004.
It was not entirely Hawke’s Bay wine that accounted for the increase, however: like many wine exporters, Sileni found that overseas distributors were clamouring for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to complete the range. And so Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, made from fruit grown on a leased vineyard and trucked north to the winery, is now an important part of the Sileni portfolio, of which about 75 percent is exported.
Sileni is also cultivating Sauvignon Blanc on its Plateau Vineyard, inland at Mangatahi, with a view to producing a softer, more food-friendly wine than the typical Marlborough style. It has also created a 2004 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, though it is only made in small quantities.
Another newcomer to the Sileni range is Riesling, though again only in small quantities, and a Pinot Gris will be added in 2005.
As new varieties come into production, others are being phased out. For example, after chief winemaker Grant Edmonds decided that – even in the good years – Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the ‘red metal’ soils of the Ngatarawa Triangle still retains a slightly green (unripe) character, Cabernet Sauvignon vines have been top-grafted with Syrah.
The earlier-ripening Merlot has so far been the star performer of Sileni’s red grape varieties, producing super-premium EV (‘exceptional vintage’) wines in good years such as 1998, 2000 and, in due course, 2004. The EV range of wines also includes a 2002 Chardonnay, although only in small quantities.
Lovers of decadent dessert wines can look forward to the release in 2005 of a 2004 Sileni Pourriture Noble, made from 100 percent botrytised Sémillon. (The French name for botrytis, or ‘noble rot’, is Pourriture Noble.)
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