Welcome ...

We would like to welcome you to our website. Our Estate is located in Marlborough in the Omaka Valley (now part of the Southern Valleys), at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. Marlborough has hot sunny days and cool nights, and a loamy soil, which are the ideal climate and terroir to produce world famous Sauvignon Blancs.

At Omaka Springs we grow all our own grapes, which are processed at the on-site winery, into medal winning wines. The aim of everybody at Omaka Springs Estates - and, indeed, our philosophy - is to make only high quality wines at affordable prices.

Vintage 2009

As our wines have finished ferment and the blends have been put together, I thought I would put a few words together and describe how I thought, the vintage has shaped up for us here at Omaka Springs Estates.

The growing season was one of indifference; with the larger crops we had in 2008 we decided to do a lot more shoot thinning especially on the Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot Noir. On the other hand the Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc came in right on expectation, with the benefit of not having to green harvest to bring down cropping estimates. While we at Omaka Springs Estates own all our own grapes, we have the capability of determining crop size (for quality not quantity) by pruning levels.

Spring and early summer was fairly cool which delayed the growing season by up to two weeks, late summer brought on a good burst of warm weather which lead to vintage starting on time. The crush was uneventful with us having ¾ of the grapes processed and in the tanks, when a good -4 deg frost hit the area. As we had already decided to harvest the balance, the frost did not create a problem for us.

The white juices looked really good with some great fresh acidity and powerful fruit intensity, while the Pinot Noir was especially impressive with good sugars and excellent colours and flavours.

The Sauvignon Blanc blend has been put together and that this year has an addition of 9.1% Semillon to fatten out the middle palate and add some complexity and dimension to the wine. All our other wines are 100% varietal.

Ian Marchant,

Director of Wines, Omaka Springs Estates

Follow the seasons live on twitter.com/OmakaSprings Pictures will follow soon!

More success stories...

Latest Awards

The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc wins a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition (June 2008)
Our 2007 Sauvignon Blanc was awarded a Double Gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. Only 4 Sauvignon Blancs (3 from Marlborough) were awarded the prestiguous Double Gold Medal in June 2008. The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc will be part of the Patterson's The Tasting Panel Magazine's Wine and Spirits Tour in all major US cities over the Summer.

Sauvignon Blanc 2007 is rated 89 points by the Wine Spectator
The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc got a 89 point rating in the May issue of the Wine Spectator Magazine
Dan Sogg describes the wine as follows:
" This is fragrant, with very good intensity to passion fruit, jasmine and guava nuances. Grass, Savory herb and fleshy peach flavors carry through the finish, with briny undertones."

The 2007 Falveys Sauvignon Blanc is rated 90 points by Wine and Spirit Magazine points by the Wine Spectator
The February Edition of Wine and Spirits Magazine gave the 2007 Falveys Sauvignon Blanc a 90 point rating. The magazine described the wine as follows:
"Pungent green scents dominate this wine, which takes time to reveal it's complex and distinctive flavors. Persimmon, Asian pear and kiwi combine in an unusual Sauvignon, suited to white salmon Sashimi."

The Wine Room

It's now almost 2 years ago since we moved our tasting room to the Wine Room. The Wine Room is located next to Annies on State Highway 1 about 3 km outside of Blenheim on the way to Picton, and is open daily from 10.00 AM till 4.30 PM
So for a little sunshine in a glass on these cold winter days we invite you visit us at the Wine Room to enjoy a glass of one of our delightful wines paired with a delicious food platter.
Every second Friday evening the Wine Room hosts the Friday Night Wine Bar.

Distribution

We are interested in distribution in Japan, China, the rest of Asia and mainland Europe. If you are interested in representing Omaka Springs Estates in these areas, please contact Helen at helen@omaka.co.nz.