STONECROFT NEWS
Latest News
Stonecroft's 30th Anniversary
Stonecroft will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2012. We have not yet decided how to celebrate this special year, so watch this space for details which will follow sometime soon.
In the meantime if you are in the Bay, we look forward to seeing you at the cellar door. We are open 11am -4pm, Friday to Sunday plus Public Holidays.
2012 Tasting Events
Christmas Gifts
For hassle free Christmas shopping, we're offering three packs and single bottles of wine which we will send out for you in a gift box with a Christmas message. Delivery is free and the three packs are available at special prices.
As our online shop only allows sales of 6 or 12 bottles, please contact us on wine@stonecroft.co.nz if you are interested and we can send an order form. Orders must be placed by 15 December and can be e-mailed, posted or phoned through.
New Releases and Labour Weekend Vintage Sale 2011
Come and taste our new releases at our cellar door at Labour Weekend. We are releasing a lot of new wines - including our 2010 Syrahs, 2010 Zinfandel, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2011 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.
We are also having our annual Labour Weekend Vintage Sale: 12 -4pm Saturday 22nd October, continues Sunday and Monday 11am - 4pm. There will be some rare wines to fill in gaps in your cellar together with a few bargains.
Open for Summer of 2011 - 2012
Our cellar door opens up for the summer on Saturday 10th September. The opening hours this year will be Friday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm and Public Holidays. We are starting off the season with the release of a Fortified Zinfandel which will only be available for purchase at the cellar door. So if you are looking for something different, come in and have a look.
Loyalty Club
We now have a new system of rewarding repeat customers. Buy a case and you can automatically now qualify for a discount on your next purchase. See here for details of the new loyalty club.
Winter Events 2011
Stonecroft will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2012. We have not yet decided how to celebrate this special year, so watch this space for details which will follow sometime soon.
In the meantime if you are in the Bay, we look forward to seeing you at the cellar door. We are open 11am -4pm, Friday to Sunday plus Public Holidays.
2012 Tasting Events
|
Wellington Mail Order Tasting
Dhall & Nash, Level 1 37 Courtenay Place |
5:30-7:30pm Thursday | 23rd February |
| Johnsonville Cellar Club | 8pm, Wedneday |
14th March
|
|
Wellington Food Show
Westpac Stadium |
10am-6pm Fri -Sat 10am-5pm Sunday |
11th-13th May |
| Christchurch Mail Order Tasting Decant Cafe, 61 Mandeville St Riccarton |
5:30-7:30pm, Thursday | 28th June |
| Titirangi Wine and Food Society | Wednesday | 25th July |
| Auckland Mail Order Tasting The Wine Vault, 453 Richmond Road Grey Lynn |
5:30-7:30pm, Thursday | 26th July |
| Titirangi RSA Vine and Hops Club | 3pm, Sunday | 29th July |
| North Shore Wine Club | 7pm, Tuesday | 9th October |
| Stonecroft Vintage Sale Plus 30th Anniversary Celebration Stonecroft 121 Mere Road, Hastings |
Labour Weekend 11am-4pm | 19th -22nd October |
| Taupo Wine Club | Wednesday |
24th October |
Christmas Gifts
For hassle free Christmas shopping, we're offering three packs and single bottles of wine which we will send out for you in a gift box with a Christmas message. Delivery is free and the three packs are available at special prices.
As our online shop only allows sales of 6 or 12 bottles, please contact us on wine@stonecroft.co.nz if you are interested and we can send an order form. Orders must be placed by 15 December and can be e-mailed, posted or phoned through.
New Releases and Labour Weekend Vintage Sale 2011
Come and taste our new releases at our cellar door at Labour Weekend. We are releasing a lot of new wines - including our 2010 Syrahs, 2010 Zinfandel, 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2011 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer.
We are also having our annual Labour Weekend Vintage Sale: 12 -4pm Saturday 22nd October, continues Sunday and Monday 11am - 4pm. There will be some rare wines to fill in gaps in your cellar together with a few bargains.
Open for Summer of 2011 - 2012
Our cellar door opens up for the summer on Saturday 10th September. The opening hours this year will be Friday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm and Public Holidays. We are starting off the season with the release of a Fortified Zinfandel which will only be available for purchase at the cellar door. So if you are looking for something different, come in and have a look.
Loyalty Club
We now have a new system of rewarding repeat customers. Buy a case and you can automatically now qualify for a discount on your next purchase. See here for details of the new loyalty club.
Winter Events 2011
| 26 May |
New Plymouth Wine Club Tasting
|
| 4-6 June | Queen's Birthday Weekend: Cellar door open and Midland's Charity Auction |
| 11-12 June | Manawatu Wine and Food Festival, Palmerston North |
| 16 June | Mes Ami Tasting, Napier |
| 28-31 July | The Food Show Auckland |
| 3 August | NZ Wine Centre Tasting, Napier |
| 9 August | Porirua Wine Society Tasting |
| 14 August | Hawke's Bay Boutique Winegrowers Meet the Makers, Khandallah Town Hall, Wellington 10am-4pm. $10 entry charge. |
| 10 September | Cellar door opens for the summer |
| 25 September | Hawke's Bay Boutique Winegrowers Meet the Makers,The Triangle Cellars, Ngatarawa Road, Hastings 11am-4pm. $5 entry charge. |
| 22-24 October | Labour Weekend: Cellar Vintage Sale at Stonecroft. Starts 12pm Saturday. |
Radio New Zealand - Country Life
On 1st April 2011 Dermot and Andria discussed their experiences at Stonecroft so far with Susan Murray on Radio New Zealand's Country Life Programme. Listen to the full interview here (audio available for six weeks after the date of the programme).
February 2011 Releases
Our February 2011 releases are now available for tasting at our cellar door. The wines released this February are our Chardonnay 2010, Old Vine Chardonnay 2009, Serine Syrah 2009 and Reserve Syrah 2010 (previously known as the Stonecroft Syrah). We will be open until Easter for tastings and during the winter months we welcome calls to arrange tastings by appointment.
Sunday 27th February - Meet the Makers and New Releases
Visit Stonecroft on Sunday 27th February 2011 and you will be able to taste wines from other Hawke's Bay boutique wineries at a Meet the Makers event (see more detail below). We will also be opening our new February releases for tasting for the first time. So a couple of good reasons to come in on 27th Feb.
Hawke's Bay Boutique Wine Makers
Hawke's Bay Boutique Winemakers held the first 'Meet the Maker's' Event at the end of November. This is intended to be an outdoor event which will be held at a different boutique winery each month. It will be held on the last Sunday of the month between 11am and 4pm (except it will be on a Monday after Boxing Day). Admission is free and wine from each winery is available for tasting and purchase. There will also be food and music. The event will be held at the following venues over the next three months:
On 1st April 2011 Dermot and Andria discussed their experiences at Stonecroft so far with Susan Murray on Radio New Zealand's Country Life Programme. Listen to the full interview here (audio available for six weeks after the date of the programme).
February 2011 Releases
Our February 2011 releases are now available for tasting at our cellar door. The wines released this February are our Chardonnay 2010, Old Vine Chardonnay 2009, Serine Syrah 2009 and Reserve Syrah 2010 (previously known as the Stonecroft Syrah). We will be open until Easter for tastings and during the winter months we welcome calls to arrange tastings by appointment.
Sunday 27th February - Meet the Makers and New Releases
Visit Stonecroft on Sunday 27th February 2011 and you will be able to taste wines from other Hawke's Bay boutique wineries at a Meet the Makers event (see more detail below). We will also be opening our new February releases for tasting for the first time. So a couple of good reasons to come in on 27th Feb.
Hawke's Bay Boutique Wine Makers
Hawke's Bay Boutique Winemakers held the first 'Meet the Maker's' Event at the end of November. This is intended to be an outdoor event which will be held at a different boutique winery each month. It will be held on the last Sunday of the month between 11am and 4pm (except it will be on a Monday after Boxing Day). Admission is free and wine from each winery is available for tasting and purchase. There will also be food and music. The event will be held at the following venues over the next three months:
Monday 27th December - Salvare
Sunday 30th January - Unison
Sunday 27th February - Stonecroft
Vintage Sale
Our cellar door opens for the summer on Friday 22nd October (Hawke's Bay Anniversary). On Saturday 23rd October we will also be holding a Cellar Vintage Sale at the Old Winery at Stonecroft, 11am - 5pm. Older vintages of wine will be for sale, some rarities and some good bargains. We will also be offering a complimentary vertical tasting of Ruhanui on the day. We look forward to seeing you there.
Ne
w Stonecroft LabelsWe have a new label which we will be using for our 2010 wines. The first 2010 wines to be released will be the Gewürztraminer, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc. These wines will be available to mail order customers in September and to others later in the year.
August 2010
August has been a productive month for us. Dermot went to Melbourne and Sydney for the Red Hot Hawke’s Bay events. Stonecroft’s wines were very well received, and the tastings got some good press in Australia.
The vineyards have now been pruned and mulched. The new undervine weeder has also been in use. This should reduce weed pressure come spring without using spray. We have had some unseasonably warm weather, so are hoping that will not bring on early bud burst. Our first organic audit was completed on Wednesday. Following on from that, we have added a new
Environment page to our website.
This week the 2010 Gewürztraminer was bottled (see photo of our 'state of the art' bottling line taken today), filling the winery with a rich mix of rose, lychee and tropical fruit aromas - the Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé will follow in the next couple of weeks. Look out for pre-release offers in September.
Not content with signing on to Twitter, we are now also on Facebook. Any suggestions about what you might like to see on our page would be welcome.
July 2010
Although we are not great at keeping up with technology, we have now signed on to Twitter. Actually, it’s easy to use once you get the hang of it. Feel free to get some conversation going as it’s been very quiet so far!
To update you with where we are at with the 2010 wines; the reds have now gone through malolactic fermentation and been racked. They will have another 16 months or so in barrel. The Gewürztraminer, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc are on their lees and will be fined and bottled in August. The Chardonnay will spend another few months in barrel. Although 2010 will go down as a cool year with smaller than usual yields, the wines are looking very good with great flavours and should be top quality.
In the vineyard, winter pruning has started. In a few weeks time we plan to put some sheep into the vineyard for weed and grass suppression. We are also moving forward on the organic front. Our organic management plan has been approved and next up will be the audit.
This week the 2010 Gewürztraminer was bottled (see photo of our 'state of the art' bottling line taken today), filling the winery with a rich mix of rose, lychee and tropical fruit aromas - the Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé will follow in the next couple of weeks. Look out for pre-release offers in September.
Not content with signing on to Twitter, we are now also on Facebook. Any suggestions about what you might like to see on our page would be welcome.
July 2010
Although we are not great at keeping up with technology, we have now signed on to Twitter. Actually, it’s easy to use once you get the hang of it. Feel free to get some conversation going as it’s been very quiet so far!
To update you with where we are at with the 2010 wines; the reds have now gone through malolactic fermentation and been racked. They will have another 16 months or so in barrel. The Gewürztraminer, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc are on their lees and will be fined and bottled in August. The Chardonnay will spend another few months in barrel. Although 2010 will go down as a cool year with smaller than usual yields, the wines are looking very good with great flavours and should be top quality.
In the vineyard, winter pruning has started. In a few weeks time we plan to put some sheep into the vineyard for weed and grass suppression. We are also moving forward on the organic front. Our organic management plan has been approved and next up will be the audit.
June 2010
Stonecroft has new owners and a new look website.
Stonecroft changed ownership on 1 June 2010. The new owners are Dermot McCollum and Andria Monin.
Although the website and logo have been updated, we do not intend to make any substantive changes to the way the wine is produced. We will continue harvesting grapes at low yields and at optimum ripeness levels in order to achieve high quality fruit, which will be vinified using the traditional methods currently employed. We are committed to using organic methods and the current viticultural practices make this a natural next step, as the vineyards have been managed using a careful but non-interventionist approach.
We are very pleased that Dr. Alan Limmer has agreed to take on a consultancy role to provide us with the benefit of his extensive expertise in the wine industry.
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