Amisfield Wine Company

AMISFIELD WINE COMPANY CELEBRATES A DECADE OF WINE PRODUCTION

Amisfield Wine Company celebrated its tenth harvest today cementing its position as a leading Central Otago wine producer and highlighting its influential role in the development of the region's wine industry. Celebrations included a rare opportunity of a vertical tasting of nine vintages of the Amisfield Pinot Noir, all were impressed with the evolution, consistency and true expression site.

Amisfield's first vines were planted in 1999 in Pisa near Lake Dunstan fulfilling the owners' vision to select an appropriate site and grow quality pinot noir that is a reflection of the Central Otago region.

Vineyard Manager Andre Lategan considers the quality has improved every year and Amisfield has consistently adhered to its sustainable practices using minimal handling and manual hand labour in the vineyard.

"More than half the plantings have been made under my watch and we are very lucky because there are not many sites in the world that have this sort of climate with its extremes of heat and cold, which can produce such top pinot noirs as well as excellent Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Riesling wines. In particular we now have a valuable ten years of Pinot Noir growing under our belt. This is our flagship variety with an international reputation."

The company's first Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris wines were released in 2002 and at the time founding winemaker Jeff Sinnott claimed it was a milestone underlining Amisfield's focus on natural winemaking processes.

"Wines must be a reflection of the vineyard site and nothing could be truer of Amisfield which grows its grapes near the shores of Lake Dunstan in the Cromwell Basin and relies on a hands off approach for making its wines."

Ten years on Sinnott maintains the Amisfield Wine Company has been instrumental in the development of the Central Otago wine industry.

"We produced some great wines during my tenure there, seven as winemaker and two as consultant to the company. We celebrated success with the wines we created, the vineyard we ran and the buildings we designed and operated. I believe the brand occupies a well-earned position in the market, one in which Amisfield can be justifiably satisfied."

The 2002 Amisfield Pinot Noir won Best Pinot Noir and a double gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competition setting the trend for future vintages, all of which have received a range of national and international accolades, including the highly regarded Wine Spectator scores (93 points) awarded to the Pinot Noir 2005 and 2008.

Current winemaker Dr Stephanie Lambert says since the first harvest in 2002 it has been possible to trace the evolution of Amisfield's still very young vines.

"Our wines are now showing their heritage and we are excited by this because, albeit small, there is now some history in both our vines and wines and we can look forward to building on this. We have continued to plant more Pinot Noir with new blocks of the interesting 'able clone' planted. We have also planted Chardonnay on the terraces above our winery and so in about three years we will have this wine available at our cellar door and bistro."

The Amisfield Wine Company's state-of-the-art production facility at its Pisa vineyard site was commissioned in 2006 and the 600-tonne capacity winery, which centres round a cuverie for Pinot Noir production is both an innovative and practical complex designed to enhance the company's 'grown not made' philosophy.

"The winery has great flow so that the grapes are gently handled at all stages. Its capability was truly tested in 2008 when a record crop came off the vines resulting in the Pinot Noir 2008, which has received so much recognition," says Dr Lambert.

Amisfield Wine Company has developed a strong global brand, in spite of being in its infancy. Dr Lambert attributes much of the success to the tight knit team which has spearheaded the label growing it into a widely respected product locally, nationally and internationally.

"Amisfield is renowned for its quality and consistency at all levels, we have achieved significant recognition since 2002. In a very short timeframe the Amisfield brand has developed into an established and acclaimed product and our distinctive marketing approach has contributed to this increasing awareness which can only become more established in the next decade."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR IMAGES PLEASE CONTACT:
Debbie Zampieri, debbie@amisfield.co.nz Ph +64 442 0556

AMISFIELD WINE COMPANY CELEBRATES TENTH HARVEST

AMISFIELD WINE COMPANY CELEBRATES TENTH HARVEST

Amisfield Wine Company is celebrating its tenth harvest this month marking yet another important milestone in the winery's significant development during the past decade.

Amisfield planted its first vines in 1999 and the first vintage was bottled in 2002, attracting early recognition. Every vintage since has won national and international awards. The Amisfield Pinot Noir has been the company's flagship wine and although still in its infancy the winery has developed a strong global brand.

Company winemaker Stephanie Lambert says since the first harvest in 2002 it is possible to trace the evolution of Amisfield' s still very young vines.

"Our wines are now showing their heritage and we are excited by this because, albeit small, there is now some history in both our vines and wines and we can look forward to building on this."

The Amisfield Wine Company's state-of-the-art production facility commissioned at the Pisa vineyard site in 2006 was a critical step for the company creating a winery with a 600-tonne capacity, one of the largest in the Central Otago region.

"It is exciting for us to be bottling our tenth vintage this year in our production facility," says Dr Lambert. "The winery has great flow so that the grapes are gently handled at all stages. Its capability was truly tested in 2008 when a bumper crop came off the vines and resulted in the Pinot Noir 2008 which has received many accolade including one of the highest Wine Spectator scores, of 93, in Central Otago."

General Manager Fleur Caulton attributes much of the success of the brand to the tight knit team which has spearheaded the Amisfield brand into a product widely respected in both New Zealand and offshore.

"Amisfield is renowned for its quality and consistency at all levels whether it is the wine or the bistro, which like our wines has also achieved widespread recognition, since opening in 2005."

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INFORMATION OR IMAGES:
Contact: Debbie Zampieri. E. debbie@amisfield.co.nz Ph +64 3 442 0556 ext. 6 www.amisfield.co.nz

Amisfield Appoints New Winemaker

Amisfield Wine Company, internationally recognised for its quality Central Otago Pinot Noir, announces the appointment of Stephanie Lambert as its chief winemaker.

Thirty-four-year-old Lambert is well qualified for the role graduating from the University of Adelaide with a PH.D in Oenology in 2002. After three years gaining experience in all aspects of wine production in Australia, and time spent in both Oregon in the United States and Burgundy in France learning the trade, she was drawn back to New Zealand.

Initially she was employed at Sileni Estates in Hawkes Bay as assistant Pinot Noir winemaker followed by a year as the winemaker responsible for red wine production.

"But I always had a dream of making Pinot Noir under snow capped mountains and after working in vineyards around Central Otago I was fortunate enough, two years ago, to be appointed assistant winemaker at Amisfield. It is certainly a realisation of my dream to become the chief winemaker for this distinctive label."

"Amisfield Pinot Noir has had a lot of success, particularly the 2008 vintage, and my vision is to build on what has already been achieved and continue to make top quality wines which are a reflection of the Lowburn vineyard," she says. "The significant aspect of our vineyard is the consistency of our grapes which allows us to make consistent quality wine."

Lambert says the "hands off" approach to winemaking at the company's state-of-the-art wine production facility at Lowburn is an important feature of the winemaking process, focusing on the Amisfield concept of "Grown Not Made."

"This is so much in line with my own philosophy for making wines with integrity and purity from quality grapes. The standard of viticulture is extremely high and there is an incredible sense of place at Amisfield with the vineyards surrounding the winery and all the winery activity concentrated in one spot."

Lambert predicts the Amisfield 2010 Pinot Noir will be "an amazing vintage."

Amisfield Wine Company General Manager Fleur Caulton says Stephanie Lambert's appointment as chief winemaker is an important milestone for the company.

"Stephanie has an excellent background in winemaking and a lot of passion for her work. We are fortunate to have someone of her calibre leading the winemaking team."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR IMAGES:
Contact: Fleur Caulton, fleur@amisfield.co.nz Ph +64 3 442 0556

Amisfield Pinot Noir 2007 Wins Gold Medal in Hong Kong

AMISFIELD PINOT NOIR 20O7 WINS GOLD MEDAL
AT INTERNATIONAL HONG KONG WINE COMPETITION

11 November 2009

The Amisfield Wine Company is celebrating yet another tribute for its outstanding Amisfield Pinot Noir 2007 after the vintage was awarded a gold medal at the inaugural Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition.

"The Pinot Noir 2007 is in a class of its own," says Amisfield General Manager Fleur Caulton. "This is the third gold medal it has attracted this year and its reputation just keeps growing. The wine was awarded a Top 100 Blue Gold medal at the prestigious Sydney International Wine Show and a gold medal at the recent New Zealand International Wine Show. It's hard to get much better than that and the recognition the wine is receiving underlines the expertise of Amisfield winemaker Claire Mulholland and her team."

The initial Hong Kong competition attracted 1300 entries worldwide and Director Simon Tam says the Asian consumer wine market is a valuable segment of the international wine industry, growing at more than seven times the rate of any other region.

"It is time the millions of Asian wine lovers had an authoritative guide to the best wines, suited to their unique taste and consumption patterns," he says.

The Amisfield Pinot Noir 2007 was one of only two Central Otago Pinot Noirs singled out by the judges at the Hong Kong competition and Ms Caulton says the ongoing success the wine is achieving is boosting the profile of Amisfield wines internationally.

"The Asian market is a new and important one for us and the judges, who are wine professionals drawn from Hong Kong, Taiwan Singapore, Japan, Thailand and India have a lot of influence in the region. They have a strong following and to have their stamp of approval is significant for Amisfield."