Akarua, the acquisition of an exceptional new terroir!

Located in Bannockburn in Central Otago, in the heart of the country's South Island, the estate comprises 34.5 ha of vines, nestled in the foothills of the mountains along the Kawarau River, upstream from Lake Dunstan, amid breathtaking scenery. Akarua is a veritable nugget, seduced by Edmond de Rothschild Heritage's exceptional terroir, enabling it to extend its range today with a great pinot noir. Ariane de Rothschild, President of the Edmond de Rothschild Group, explains that the mineral complexity of the Central Otago soil is recognized the world over as providing exceptional growing conditions for this grape variety. The Bannockburn terroir is comparable to Burgundy, with the potential to produce the world's finest pinot noir.

The nine vineyards owned by Edmond de Rothschild Heritage in France, Spain, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand produce 3.5 million bottles of wine each year, and the Akarua vineyard marks the group's first entry into the organic wine market. "Central Otago, and in particular Bannockburn, offers an ideal terroir for Pinot Noir, thanks to its continental climate, rare for New Zealand, combined with a great mineral complexity of the soils (Loess on schists and sands...). The Akarua vineyard is a unique site, nestled in the foothills of the mountains, offering more balanced conditions that will undoubtedly enable us to rise among the great pinot noirs." Anne Escalle, Rimapere's Technical Director since 2019 and based in New Zealand for 15 years, takes charge of this new vineyard.

AN HISTORIC TERROIR
Akarua was created in 1996 by Sir Clifford Skeggs, a renowned New Zealand fishing and tourism entrepreneur, and his family, who have turned it into a renowned brand that has become a classic throughout the country. The name Akarua means two grape varieties in the Māori language. Pinot and Chardonnay were the varieties originally planted on the estate. They now represent 78.5% and 2% of the vineyard respectively, plus a little pinot gris and riesling. Edmond de Rothschild Heritage's ambition, backed by the know-how of its local teams and its international viticultural expertise, is to optimize Akarua's fantastic potential to produce the country's finest single estate Pinot Noir, create elegant wines and exceptional cuvées, and become New Zealand's benchmark on domestic and international markets.

AKARUA VINTAGES
The second most widely grown grape variety in New Zealand, Pinot Noir captures and restores the intensity of Akarua's terroirs and Bannockburn landscapes, producing highly aromatic, fruity, voluptuous wines, supported by a taut structure and silky texture. Akarua Pinot Noir is aged for 11 months in about a quarter new French oak barrels. Floral and spicy, it delivers raspberry and blackcurrant aromas on the nose, and tasty black cherry notes on the palate. From now on, it will be produced exclusively with grapes from the Cairnmuir plots. The Siren", Akarua's super-premium cuvée, is made from the best hand-harvested lots of Cairnmuir. It is aged for 18 months in one- and two-year-old new French oak barrels, followed by one year in bottle. The wine is powerful and complex, floral and spicy, exhaling dark berries. The aim is to double volumes in five years, from 70,000 to 150,000 bottles, while ensuring a move upmarket to assert Akarua's new raison d'être: premium and super-premium wines, all made exclusively from the estate's own vines. The attention and care given to each vine will enable us to identify and optimize existing potential to create exceptional cuvées from hyper-quality plots or special vinifications. For the New Zealand market alone, Akarua will also produce a pale-colored Cairnmuir pinot noir rosé, obtained by pressing, and still white wines made from chardonnay, pinot gris and riesling, as well as an ice wine.