Best Wine From New Zealand - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Gold - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Green Award - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Bronze - 2020 International Wine & Spirit Competition Silver - International Wine & Spirits competition (2014 vintage) Bronze - International Wine Challenge (2014 vintage) Bronze - International Wine Challenge (2019 vintage) Bronze Winner - The Drinks Business 'GLOBAL PINOT NOIR MASTERS' (2019 vintage)
NZ Wine of the Year™ 2019 (for its Sauvignon Blanc 2019) ◆ Trophy - ‘Best Wine - Nelson’ ◆ Gold Medal
Bob Campbell "Light, fresh and quite pretty pinot noir with gentle cherry, floral, violet, fresh herb and subtle spicy oak flavours. A charming wine that's very approachable now but should develop well"
Winemaker Tasting Notes "The 2019 Aotea by the Seifried Family Nelson Pinot Noir is rich and inviting. The nose has ripe berry and plum notes together with hints of mocha. Palate entry is full, generous and ripe with supple tannins running the length of the palate leaving a long finish."
Winemaker Notes "The Aotea by the Seifried Family Nelson Pinot Noir 2019 is a barrel selection of parcels that our winemakers consider the best Pinot Noir from the 2019 vintage. The grapes were hand picked in March at the peak of ripeness and then promptly de-stemmed and transferred to open-top fermenters. A three day cold-maceration period preceded inoculation for fermentation. Hand plunging was carried out two times a day during the ten day primary fermentation, followed by a five day period of post-fermentation maceration. After pressing, the young wine was drained into French barriques where it underwent malolactic fermentation and ageing. The wine was blended and bottled in June 2020. "
Raymond Chan "The nose is elegantly proportioned with a well-packed core of dark-red berry fruits and suggestions of black cherries melded with dried herbs, some nutty oak and a little earthy detail. Medium-bodied, the palate has a rounded heart of dark-red strawberry fruit along with savoury dried herbs and a subtle layering of nutty oak and earthy elements. The palate has good density and light, grainy tannin grip, with ripe acidity balancing the fruit. The wine flows to a dry-textured finish with savoury red fruits and nutty oak. This is a well-packed savoury strawberry and herb flavoured Pinot Noir with a grainy tannin line." (2018 Vintage)
Steve Moody "layers of summer berries on the nose and palate. Smooth supple spicy French oak notes wrap around the palate fruit weight. An appealing earthy savoury character defines the wine along with fragrant dried herbs." (2018 Vintage)
London Wine Competition "Seifried's 'Aotea' represents a selection of wines which the Seifried winemaking team consider to be the very best of the best. The fruit is harvested from single-vineyard Estate grown vines. The wines offer texture while maintaining the varietal character of the grape - wines with depth and finesse." (2018 Vintage)
The Winemaker "This rich and full wine has appealing warm spicy oak notes alongside succulent apricot characters. The palate is generous with well-integrated French oak spice and full yeasty textured notes together with ripe tropical flavours. Fine tannins run through the length of the wine leaving a generous finish." (2018 Vintage)
Bob Campbell "This is muscular, fruity and zesty, with juiciness on the palate. Attractive rich Pinot fruit and plenty of oak spice that is clean and crunchy." (2016 vintage)
The Winemaker "The Aotea Pinot Noir 2015 is a barrel selection of wine from some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines on our Rabbit Island vineyard where vines date to the late 1980s. Vine age is apparent in this vineyard which has deep-rooted vines and to produce wines with depth and beauty. This wine is blended from a selection of the barrels which our winemakers consider to be the very best of our 2015 Pinot Noir. 2015 was a remarkable year in Nelson, particularly for red grape varietals. Crops were significantly down on long term averages and this lead to very concentrated fruit from exceptionally low yielding vines." (2015 Vintage)
Aotea represents a selection of wines which the Seifried winemaking team consider to be the very best of the best. The fruit is harvested from single-vineyard Estate grown vines. The wines offer texture while maintaining the varietal character of the grape - wines with depth and finesse.
Seifried's Aotea Rabbit Island vineyard is situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Maori kumara beds (sweet potato) prior to European settlement in the early 1800s. The Maori transferred and spread fine gravel and sand over the land to provide suitable soils for their kumara plantings. Scrub was burned to give ash and charcoal, which increased soil fertility and gave characteristic topsoil. This fertility is now considerably reduced due to modern farming. The soils are, however, very sandy and free draining. The water table is relatively high ensuring adequate underground water. These vineyards are about 1.5 kilometres from the sea, which helps moderate summer temperatures.
Wine Spectator "... Seifried is a winery located in the lesser-known Nelson appellation on the northern tip of the South Island, just west of Marlborough. The region has the highest sunshine hours in all of New Zealand. Further inland, mountain ranges to the east, south and west provide shelter for the valleys and benchlands, while the northern areas benefit from a more maritime climate. The summers are warm and relatively dry and the nights cool. Seifried pulls from two vineyard sources to make this complex and juicy white. One is just 10 miles from the coast, adding liveliness to the wine, while the other is sheltered from the coast, with stony soils yielding riper fruit."
The Real Review "The Seifried family now farm over 200 hectares across eight sustainably accredited vineyards in the Nelson region. Wines are exported to 21 countries around the globe and all three Seifried “children” are fully involved in the family business. The Seifried family really are, pioneering family winegrowers."
Decanter "Born in Austria, Hermann Seifried studied winemaking in his homeland and in Germany before moving to South Africa to gain hands-on experience with KWV. His next (and so far final) step on his journey was to New Zealand, where he arrived without a word of English in his vocabulary. Here he met (Sweet) Agnes, [which some of his wines are named] whom he married in 1971. They held a joint ambition to plant their own vineyard in Nelson at the very north of New Zealand’s South Island, where they spotted the immense potential. Despite the naysayers who claimed that Nelson was too far south and too cold an environment in which to fully ripen grapes, they pressed ahead, and 1973 marked the planting of the first vines, with the first vintage released three years later."
London Wine Show "Seifried Estate is a company devoted to sustainable winegrowing and producing the very best Nelson [New Zealand] has to offer."
Seifried Estate was created by New Zealand winemaking pioneers, Austrian-born Hermann Seifried and his New Zealander wife Agnes. They planted their first grapes in the Moutere Valley near Nelson, and made their first wine in 1976. Seifried is a founding member of 'Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand' and was an early adopter of the programme when both the winery and vineyard auditing programmes were first established in the New Zealand wine industry in the mid-1990's. The programme aims to deliver a framework for viticultural and winemaking practices that protect the environment while efficiently and economically producing premium wine grapes and wine.
Nelson is a small, little-known wine region at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island. Surrounded on three sides by mountains, it enjoys a unique mesoclimate that is perfect for aromatic grape varieties. Wines made from Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are considered to be some of the best in New Zealand.
Pinot Noir is the dominant red wine grape of Burgundy, now adopted (and extensively studied) in wine regions all over the world. The variety's elusive charm has carried it to all manner of vineyards.These extend from western Germany (as Spätburgunder) and northern Italy to Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. California, Oregon and New Zealand are arguably the greatest centers for the grape outside its home territory. However great Pinot Noir is made in all of these territories.
93/100 Bob Campbell (2019 vintage)
Best Wine From New Zealand - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Gold - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Green Award - 2020 Hong Kong IWSC Bronze - 2020 International Wine & Spirit Competition Silver - International Wine & Spirits competition (2014 vintage) Bronze - International Wine Challenge (2014 vintage) Bronze - International Wine Challenge (2019 vintage) Bronze Winner - The Drinks Business 'GLOBAL PINOT NOIR MASTERS' (2019 vintage)
NZ Wine of the Year™ 2019 (for its Sauvignon Blanc 2019) ◆ Trophy - ‘Best Wine - Nelson’ ◆ Gold Medal
Bob Campbell "Light, fresh and quite pretty pinot noir with gentle cherry, floral, violet, fresh herb and subtle spicy oak flavours. A charming wine that's very approachable now but should develop well"
Winemaker Tasting Notes "The 2019 Aotea by the Seifried Family Nelson Pinot Noir is rich and inviting. The nose has ripe berry and plum notes together with hints of mocha. Palate entry is full, generous and ripe with supple tannins running the length of the palate leaving a long finish."
Winemaker Notes "The Aotea by the Seifried Family Nelson Pinot Noir 2019 is a barrel selection of parcels that our winemakers consider the best Pinot Noir from the 2019 vintage. The grapes were hand picked in March at the peak of ripeness and then promptly de-stemmed and transferred to open-top fermenters. A three day cold-maceration period preceded inoculation for fermentation. Hand plunging was carried out two times a day during the ten day primary fermentation, followed by a five day period of post-fermentation maceration. After pressing, the young wine was drained into French barriques where it underwent malolactic fermentation and ageing. The wine was blended and bottled in June 2020. "
Raymond Chan "The nose is elegantly proportioned with a well-packed core of dark-red berry fruits and suggestions of black cherries melded with dried herbs, some nutty oak and a little earthy detail. Medium-bodied, the palate has a rounded heart of dark-red strawberry fruit along with savoury dried herbs and a subtle layering of nutty oak and earthy elements. The palate has good density and light, grainy tannin grip, with ripe acidity balancing the fruit. The wine flows to a dry-textured finish with savoury red fruits and nutty oak. This is a well-packed savoury strawberry and herb flavoured Pinot Noir with a grainy tannin line." (2018 Vintage)
Steve Moody "layers of summer berries on the nose and palate. Smooth supple spicy French oak notes wrap around the palate fruit weight. An appealing earthy savoury character defines the wine along with fragrant dried herbs." (2018 Vintage)
London Wine Competition "Seifried's 'Aotea' represents a selection of wines which the Seifried winemaking team consider to be the very best of the best. The fruit is harvested from single-vineyard Estate grown vines. The wines offer texture while maintaining the varietal character of the grape - wines with depth and finesse." (2018 Vintage)
The Winemaker "This rich and full wine has appealing warm spicy oak notes alongside succulent apricot characters. The palate is generous with well-integrated French oak spice and full yeasty textured notes together with ripe tropical flavours. Fine tannins run through the length of the wine leaving a generous finish." (2018 Vintage)
Bob Campbell "This is muscular, fruity and zesty, with juiciness on the palate. Attractive rich Pinot fruit and plenty of oak spice that is clean and crunchy." (2016 vintage)
The Winemaker "The Aotea Pinot Noir 2015 is a barrel selection of wine from some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines on our Rabbit Island vineyard where vines date to the late 1980s. Vine age is apparent in this vineyard which has deep-rooted vines and to produce wines with depth and beauty. This wine is blended from a selection of the barrels which our winemakers consider to be the very best of our 2015 Pinot Noir. 2015 was a remarkable year in Nelson, particularly for red grape varietals. Crops were significantly down on long term averages and this lead to very concentrated fruit from exceptionally low yielding vines." (2015 Vintage)
Aotea represents a selection of wines which the Seifried winemaking team consider to be the very best of the best. The fruit is harvested from single-vineyard Estate grown vines. The wines offer texture while maintaining the varietal character of the grape - wines with depth and finesse.
Seifried's Aotea Rabbit Island vineyard is situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Maori kumara beds (sweet potato) prior to European settlement in the early 1800s. The Maori transferred and spread fine gravel and sand over the land to provide suitable soils for their kumara plantings. Scrub was burned to give ash and charcoal, which increased soil fertility and gave characteristic topsoil. This fertility is now considerably reduced due to modern farming. The soils are, however, very sandy and free draining. The water table is relatively high ensuring adequate underground water. These vineyards are about 1.5 kilometres from the sea, which helps moderate summer temperatures.
Wine Spectator "... Seifried is a winery located in the lesser-known Nelson appellation on the northern tip of the South Island, just west of Marlborough. The region has the highest sunshine hours in all of New Zealand. Further inland, mountain ranges to the east, south and west provide shelter for the valleys and benchlands, while the northern areas benefit from a more maritime climate. The summers are warm and relatively dry and the nights cool. Seifried pulls from two vineyard sources to make this complex and juicy white. One is just 10 miles from the coast, adding liveliness to the wine, while the other is sheltered from the coast, with stony soils yielding riper fruit."
The Real Review "The Seifried family now farm over 200 hectares across eight sustainably accredited vineyards in the Nelson region. Wines are exported to 21 countries around the globe and all three Seifried “children” are fully involved in the family business. The Seifried family really are, pioneering family winegrowers."
Decanter "Born in Austria, Hermann Seifried studied winemaking in his homeland and in Germany before moving to South Africa to gain hands-on experience with KWV. His next (and so far final) step on his journey was to New Zealand, where he arrived without a word of English in his vocabulary. Here he met (Sweet) Agnes, [which some of his wines are named] whom he married in 1971. They held a joint ambition to plant their own vineyard in Nelson at the very north of New Zealand’s South Island, where they spotted the immense potential. Despite the naysayers who claimed that Nelson was too far south and too cold an environment in which to fully ripen grapes, they pressed ahead, and 1973 marked the planting of the first vines, with the first vintage released three years later."
London Wine Show "Seifried Estate is a company devoted to sustainable winegrowing and producing the very best Nelson [New Zealand] has to offer."
Seifried Estate was created by New Zealand winemaking pioneers, Austrian-born Hermann Seifried and his New Zealander wife Agnes. They planted their first grapes in the Moutere Valley near Nelson, and made their first wine in 1976. Seifried is a founding member of 'Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand' and was an early adopter of the programme when both the winery and vineyard auditing programmes were first established in the New Zealand wine industry in the mid-1990's. The programme aims to deliver a framework for viticultural and winemaking practices that protect the environment while efficiently and economically producing premium wine grapes and wine.
Nelson is a small, little-known wine region at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island. Surrounded on three sides by mountains, it enjoys a unique mesoclimate that is perfect for aromatic grape varieties. Wines made from Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are considered to be some of the best in New Zealand.
Pinot Noir is the dominant red wine grape of Burgundy, now adopted (and extensively studied) in wine regions all over the world. The variety's elusive charm has carried it to all manner of vineyards.These extend from western Germany (as Spätburgunder) and northern Italy to Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. California, Oregon and New Zealand are arguably the greatest centers for the grape outside its home territory. However great Pinot Noir is made in all of these territories.
