Silver Wing Wines is a hand-crafted range of Waipara wines. They are dedicated to using natural production methods, producing their wines with handpicked fruit from their organic vineyard. Every aspect of production is carefully tended by one winemaker.
Silver Wing are dedicated to making hand crafted preservative free natural wines with texture, from their organic Waipara Vineyard. Hand picked grapes, wild ferments, no additions, no filtration, no additives and plenty of skin contact all come together to make vibrant, complex, and textural wines.
The winemaker, Andrew Fox studied wine making at EIT, worked in wineries in Marlborough, Hawkes Bay, and North Canterbury with production experience in Europe, Burgundy, Loire Valley and Navarra Spain. After several vintages working, making wine for other companies, in 2010 Andrew began making his own wine in the corner of a bigger winery. This has grown over the years and now Silver Wing have moved into their own winery right next to the organic vineyard.
It’s all about the fruit & their vineyard has been organic since day 1 with Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Semillon, the vines on their home block being planted in 2007. They also have 2 Chardonnay growers on board and buy in a few other varieties to experiment with.
The team at Silver Wing believe “LESS is MORE” so keeping the wines closest to its natural form, with minimal intervention, doing everything possible by hand; for example the gentle low extraction maceration technique for their Pinot Noir, finishing and bottling the wines with zero additions.
All their wines are fermented and/or matured in ceramic eggs or french barrels with stainless tanks used only for settling / bottling purposes. Ceramic egg tanks have the benefits of movement flow, micro oxygenation, their porous walls also providing home for yeast colonies. And then there’s the molecular alignment….
All this adds up to soulful, textural influences in the wine, quite distinct from barrel and a more interesting profile when compared to the same wine matured in stainless.
To find out more and buy wines visit: https://silverwingwines.co.nz/
If you would like to be considered for Featured Winery of the Month contact JB
https://nzwinedirectory.co.nz/about/contact/
JB’s Tasting Notes
Silver Wing Wines ‘Nada’ Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Waipara NZ
Bright mid-golden coloured with the faintest haze, light oily ‘wine tears.’ Let it breathe for a bit, stone-fruit, savoury, citrus & lemongrass aromas predominant, a hint of oak. The palate has concentrated flavours of peach, tropical fruit, green apple, a grippy lemony acidity, nicely textured with a creamy / nutty oak influence & a long bright juicy finish. Hand picked. organically grown fruit from their home block, de-stemmed for overnight skin contact then wild ferment in seasoned barrels, matured for 9 months in seasoned barrels and bottled without additions. RRP:$37.00 https://silverwingwines.co.nz/
Silver Wing Wines ‘Nada’ Pet Nat Riesling 2022, Waipara NZ
Lightly chilled upright. A persistent bead in the bottle, a little dropout / sediment in the bottom. Clear bright yellow-gold in colour with a fine bead in the glass. The nose is all about the citrus fruit, lemons, limes & a whiff of yeast. The palate is very crisp, a zingy acidity, crunchy & effervescent with citrus fruit predominant & a subtle savoury mineral note. A really refreshing drinkable wine at 12% Alc. Think “Riesling Methode Traditonnelle” 100% pure Riesling (organically grown fruit planted in 2007) from their home block (Waipara). Hand-picked, de-stemmed, 2 days skin contact, pressed, settled and racked to ceramic egg for wild fermentation. Bottled with reintroduced frozen juice. No additions. RRP:$39.00 https://silverwingwines.co.nz/
Silver Wing Wines ‘Nada’ Ceramic Pinot Noir Rosé 2022, Waipara NZ
Lightly chilled – Lovely pale orange coloured with copper hues, lighter bodied wine (a tiny bit of sediment). Fresh red berry-fruit aromas in the nose, a little mineral note, smoker lollies? Vibrant palate with more juicy red berry fruit flavours, a crisp acidity, wet stone minerality & a dry long finish. 100% Pinot Noir Organically grown fruit from vines planted in 2007 on the home block in Waipara, hand-picked whole bunch pressed fermented in a 675 L ceramic egg & no additions. A very drinkable Rose.
Silver Wing Wines Nada ‘Frankenfurter’ Pet Nat 2022, Waipara NZ
Chilled slightly – very vigorous bubbles on opening. Pale red to dark pink in colour, quite opaque / cloudy with fine lees in the bottle. The nose has red berry, plum & orange citrus notes, a hint of yeasty lees. On the palate it’s immediately effervescent, then a bright acidity & juicy red berry fruit & citrus flavours arrive, juicy, with a medium length, softer finish. Handpicked grapes 70% Pinot Noir & 30% Sauvignon Blanc, fermented in French barrels – Frozen juice reintroduced at bottling for bubbles, no additions. Fresh, Zingy & most Interesting!
Silver Wing Wines ‘Nada’ Reserve Barrel Chardonnay 2019, Waipara NZ
A golden yellow in colour, clear & bright, medium bodied. Lovely nose of ripe peach, nectarine & citrus, nutty buttery oak notes. A succulent palate with stone-fruit flavours reflecting the nose, a little butterscotch, nice grape-fruity acidity, textured, well integrated, creamy, nutty oak, medium dry finish. I like it – a delicious North Canterbury Chardonnay with character. Hand-picked Waipara single vineyard. Destemmed for overnight skin contact Pressed, settled for a day and racked to barrel. Fermented in a brand new Francois Freres Barrel. M+ After 4 weeks racked to a seasoned barrel to mature for further 11 months. Wild ferment, No additions.
Silver Wing Wines ‘Nada’ Pinot Noir 2021, Marlborough NZ
Deep black cherry to purple in colour to the rim, medium+ bodied, great ‘tears.’ The nose is concentrated with dark berry fruit, plum, spice & toasty oak & earth aromas. Concentrated palate, of dark berry / plum fruit flavours, a vibrant acidity, silky tannins & toasty oak add layers of texture & complexity – there’s a slight savoury element in the background too. Intense fruit driven, long finish. Handpicked, Clone 5 grapes from Churton in Marlborough, (their oldest vines) approx 30 years old, bio-dynamically farmed and certified organic fruit. 90% De-stemmed. 10% whole bunch. No plunging. Mostly whole berries, top crust was buried every 2 days by hand. Gentle low extraction maceration technique No plunging just 3 pump-overs. Pressed when the cap sunk after 18 days on skins. Matured for 1 year in a Tonnellerie Cavin (Aphrodite) barrels Bottled without additions. Fabulous!