WELCOME TO KAIMIRA VENTURES
In this website we aim to share with you some insights into the way we operate and the wines we make. We produce two styles of wine: Kaimira Estate and Brightside. Both are made by us from grapes grown locally in vineyards we either own or manage.
LATEST NEWS
We've had a busy social summer, sponsoring the Nouveau Design Awards and the Buskers Festival in Nelson, and attending events such as the Brightwater Wine and Food Festival. The tasting room has had some wonderful exhibitions, and it has been great welcoming and meeting a wide range of nationalities.
As autumn sets in, we are preparing for our eleventh vintage. In the beginning of March, our accessible Brightside range has been awarded with silver medals for the 2008 Riesling, 2008 Pinot Noir and the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc at the Royal Easter Show and the International Cool Climate Wine Show.
The 2006 vintage of our Kaimira Estate Brightwater Riesling continues to be a success. It was wine of the week in the Listener in February, awarded 4.5 stars by Michael Cooper. This wine also scooped up another silver medal in the International Cool Climate Wine Show, having won silver in the Bragato Wine Awards back in 2007.
If you are a member of our cellar door (you can join at the bottom of the page), you can expect a great offer on these wines in your mailbox.
What' been Happening in the Vineyard?
After a difficult spring with rain and cold frosty weather right up to mid November, the plants made up for it with good growth during December. The weeks leading up to Christmas are always the busiest but we all managed to get some days off to celebrate the silly season with friends and family.
A hot dry January saw the crop coming along very nicely and by the end of the month the bird nets came out of the shed to protect our grapes once more.
With harvest preparations on the way, we are all looking forward to another excellent vintage.
Our Winemaker on Riesling
The Oxford Wine Companion refers to Riesling as "arguably the world's most undervalued grape" perhaps due to its incredible versatility in making wines that vary from searingly dry to lusciously sweet late-harvest styles, but also because of the capacity of the wines to age beautifully, sometimes lasting for decades. When grown in cool climates such as here in Nelson, the Riesling grape ripens slowly and develops elegant aromas and intense flavours whilst retaining a high level of natural acidity. It is this acidity which both gives a youthful Riesling its vibrancy, and allows the wine to age, working as a natural preservative.
A young Riesling will typically display green apple, lemon, lime and other citrus as well as floral hawthorn, jasmine and chamomile. Botrytis influence can give further complexity with ginger, dried apricot, and almond aromas. Riesling will develop in the bottle at a pace defined by the soils and the climatic conditions of the vintage - a general rule of thumb being that a cooler season will make wine of greater longevity. It can become a complex, mature and mellow wine with flavours of butter, honey, wax and petrol/kerosene slowly overwhelming the primary fruit.
Of course it is a matter of taste which end of the spectrum you prefer, but perhaps there is a time and a place for both, if only you have the patience!
CELLAR CLUB
If you are interested in specials and access to scarce stock please enter your name and email address below and we will ensure you receive priority attention when offers are made.
