MUDDY WATER

Production: 7,000 cases

One of Waipara’s finest estates, Muddy Water is dedicated to the production of unique, hand-crafted wines with elegance and persistence the constant hallmarks. The Muddy Water name is a literal translation of the regional name of Waipara (‘Wai’ meaning Water, ‘para’ meaning mud). Michael East, a Christchurch medical specialist and his viticulture-qualified wife, Jane, bought their sloping property in 1992 and produced their first wine in 1996.

Cold, frosty winters, warm dry summers and dry sunny autumns provide intensely flavoured grapes. Soils are loam over calcarious clay on limestone bedrock, ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. All canopy and crop management is done by hand with meticulous care and attention to detail. Vine planting is dense and crop level is minuscule to increase concentration. The estate achieved full Organic certification in 2010 for it's home vineyards, from where the handpicked fruit, travels no more than 500 metres to the gravity-fed winery. Wines produced include Riesling (four styles – dry, off-dry, medium and a dessert offering), Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Rosé, three styles of Pinot Noir, Syrah and Pinotage. Vineyard expansion has seen production treble in the past three years and a meticulous selection and planting of new clones has added complexity as each new vintage emerges. This includes a new range of wines under the GROWERS SERIES, from separate vineyards growing fruit to the very exacting standards of Muddy Water, which are not currently organically certified.

Muddy Water’s Rheingau-trained and California honed winemaker, Belinda Gould, is fast becoming the wine-maker to watch in the region, touted by wine writers both in New Zealand and overseas as a Waipara legend.

• Wines currently available:
• 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
• 2009 Muddy Water Deliverance White Sauvignon Blanc
  2008 James Hardwick Riesling (medium)
  2008 Lough Vineyard Riesling (medium)
  2008 Unplugged Riesling (late harvest, sweet)
  2009 Dry Riesling
  2008 Sugar Daddy Riesling 375ml (sweet) 
  2008 Chardonnay
  2008 Fitzgerald Chardonnay
  2010 Rosé
  2008 Hares Breath Pinot Noir
  2008 Waipara Pinot Noir
  2009 Slowhand Pinot Noir
  2007 Syrah
  2009 Pinotage
  2009 Deliverance Red (Syrah)
  
  Click here for stockists in Ireland.
• Click here to visit the Muddy Water website.