(2023) A single vineyard wine from a vineyard that, prior to the 1931 Napier earthquake, was a tidal estuary. Now drained, seashell deposits remain interspersed through maritime clay. Planted in 1998, the vineyard is dry farmed. After fermentation with indigenous yeasts and partial malolactic fermentation, it saw extended ageing in French oak barriques, 35% new. Pale straw/lemon, the nose has flint and iodine aromatics, a Brazil nut, buttery character beneath. In the mouth it is bracing and salt-licked, the fruit lemony and fresh, but there is creaminess to the texture and the plushness of the background oak lends fine support as does crisp, tangy and lightly pithy acidity. Powerful stuff, intense and long.