Winemaker Notes
Dark currant fruit notes to start, bramble, anise and spice on the nose. Lovely succulence and fruit weight showing superb integration.
The Giesen Single Vineyard Series, a limited edition collection of wines, crafted to give an honest reflection of the vineyard. These sites are located throughout the Wairau Valley and aim to showcase Marlborough's unique sub regions. Combining meticulous viticulture practices aimed to produce the finest, highly concentrated flavors. The winemakers ensure these wines speak for themselves; wild fermentation, rested in highest quality German & French oak, a perfect example of our single vineyard philosophy producing wines of the land.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plenty of richness and depth takes hold amid some baked clay, undergrowth and other earthy nuances together with a lot of handy oak spices. The palate has a core of really bright and light yet somehow concentrated sweet cherry fruits. The oak is nicely cut through in terms of flavors and structure.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Giesen's 2013 Single Vineyard Selection Ridge Block Pinot Noir has a pale ruby-purple color and nose of crushed red currants and black raspberries with violets, cinnamon and cloves hints. Light to medium-bodied and elegantly fruited on the palate, it has lovely perfume matched by satiny texture and just enough acidity, finishing with plenty of finesse. Rating: 90+
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Wine & Spirits
This grows in a vineyard in the foothills of the Southern Valleys of Wairau, a densely planted site farmed organically on silt loams, clay and fractured stone. The fruit has a coolness that one taster compared to alpine pinot noir from Alto Adige, savory, spicy and bold, with a juicy texture over brash, meaty tannins. A pinot for the dark meat of roast turkey.
From the Estate Range to the Single Vineyard Series, Giesen delivers stylish wines that showcase the riches of Marlborough.
Proudly family-owned by three brothers Theo, Alex and Marcel since 1981. Originally from Germany, today the Giesen brothers are the proprietors of 13 vineyards located throughout the highly sought after Wairau Valley, a subregion of Marlborough. The vineyards spread across the length & breadth of the valley giving a range of grape growing conditions and flavor. 20% of Giesen vineyards are certified organic or in transition.
The Giesens are the leading buyers of German 1,000 liter Fuder barrels in New Zealand. The Fuders are coveted in winemaking for the lees influence (due to large dimension across the bottom of the barrel) as well as the lighter oak toasting – which provides an aromatic sweetness. Giesen is known and respected for showcasing Marborough’s unique vineyard and vintage characteristics and to delivering superb vine-to-bottle quality across the range
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.