Experimenting with different winemaking techniques, the team at Te Aro Wine have come up with (to their knowledge) a New Zealand first: a sparkling ‘wine’ that undergoes secondary fermentation with the addition of Hawkes Bay Rewarewa honey. They call it #BeesBeesBees!
#BeesBeesBees
Inspired by Grower Champagne producer Lelarge Pugeot who uses honey collected on the vineyard to sweeten certain champagnes Te Aro Wine has instead used flora honey for secondary fermentation, transforming a still wine into a sparkling wine.
“The base wine we used was a skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc that had been aging in barrel for 9 months,” says winemaker Jules van Costello, “which had its own waxy, honey character that we knew was going to work alongside the flavourful, woodsy honey… This is not about doing something crazy but about playing on flavours that we know will work well together.”
This said, naming the ‘wine’ was going to be a problem as honey is not a permitted wine additive, “To be honest, we can’t even call it wine,” says van Costello, “so we call it what it is: skin-fermented Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc re-fermented with honey. It’s a bit of a mouthful but it works for us.”
#BeesBeesBees is available at the Te Aro Wine Cellar Door at 8 Ebor St, Te Aro Wellington, at selected restaurants and is available online at TeAroWine.co.nz. Only 180 bottles were made and it is labeled by hand.
Te Aro Wine is Wellington’s only dedicated urban winery – we make fun wine not fine wine. For more information contact:
Jules van Costello 020 40451458
Te Aro Wine & Robe Wine Company Ltd