SHEILD Albarino 2024

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 93/100. Excellent intensity and impact with a bouquet of yellow flowers and ripe citrus, there’s a mix of peach and lemon then a saline seaside air quality. Mineral and fresh, steely and urgent. On the palate there’s impact from acidity and vibrancy, flavours of citrus and white fleshed stone fruits, some green gauge plum ideas and a saline edge. Delicious, salivating and fresh, a wine ready to enjoy from day of purchase through 2029.

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 93/100. Pristine and delicately fragrant, the bouquet shows nectarine, green pear, crunchy apple, and lemon peel aromas, leading to a brightly expressed palate offering juicy fruit intensity combined with fine texture and zesty acidity, finishing long and refreshing. At its best: now to 2027.

Tasting note

Lemon in colour, it has pronounced primary aromatics of lime, honeysuckle, peach, lemon and salty oyster shell. Secondary aromas hint at lees contact and are reminiscent of beeswax. This wine has excellent attack thanks to the brisk acidity and continues on to offer a pleasing, layered mouth filling experience.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: white wine from New Zealand

Varietal: Albarino

Food match: A gentle salinity typical to the variety means it pairs fabulously with Kaimoana and crisp garden-fresh salads.

Vineyard: Whenua Matua, Nelson, New Zealand.

Soil type: Moutere clay bound gravels.

Vine Age: 9 years.

Growing Season 2024: Winter 2023 in Nelson was normal. Not too cold, nor wet, with no major events and ground water at expected levels. Spring commenced under a building El Nino weather pattern meaning the summer should be warm and dry with less risk of major Northerly rain events. And that’s exactly how it turned out. The Nelson/Tasman region recorded New Zealands’ highest sunshine hours (again). Unsurprisingly as well, rainfall was below average and by mid summer water restrictions were in place. Grape development through the season was easily managed and fruit ended up ripe and clean for one of the better growing seasons Nelson has seen for some time.

Regional climate: Nelson’s sheltered topography gives protection from strong winds; combined with its proximity to the sea this gives milder temperatures than other South Island regions, mitigating frost risk. Regularly New Zealand’s sunniest region and with good diurnal variation this helps emphasise varietal character. High sunlight hours and a long growing season give wonderful fruit purity.

Winemaking: This small planting of Albarino enjoys a sheltered microclimate, nestled in the Upper Moutere Hills. The fruit was machine harvested on the 26th of March and carted to the winery during which time it was able to benefi t from skin contact with the juice, maximising fl avour precursors. On arrival it was further destemmed and lightly crushed to the press. The press cycle carefully monitored, and the hard pressings separated off. The juices were cold settled for an extended period to achieve a high level of clarifi cation. The free run was then racked to tank and warmed for inoculation. The pressings were racked to an older Hogshead for a wild ferment and eventually malolactic fermentation. A yeast strain traditionally used on Riesling was chosen for the tank of free run juice and the ensuing ferment was stretched over a three-week period using cooling, protecting the glorious secondary aromas created thanks to those aroma precursors and the fermentation process. This ferment was arrested with a little over 7g/l residual sugar -this small lick of sugar serving to help balance the bone dry barrel component and the icy acidity this variety is revered for. The tank was racked off gross yeast lees and left to sit on fi ne lees for a period of 6 months before blending with the barrel component and preparing the wine for bottling in the fi rst week of November 2024.

Alcohol: 13,5% vol

Residual sugar: 6.5 g/l

TA: 9,75 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Cellaring potential: 2027

Closure: Screwcap

Ingredients: Grapes, stabilisers: yeast mannoproteins, Packaging gases: Nitrogen, preservative: Potassium metabisulphite (E 224).

Produced and bottled by: Drinks Cabinet Limited, Atawhai, Nelson 7010, New Zealand

Imported by: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany