A feeling of true legacy
When Marisco Vineyards Winemaker Emma Marris heads overseas with her family's wine this year, she'll take a "feeling of true legacy" with her, just as her father did 30 years ago.
This is the question that Brent Marris asked himself when planning his new Marisco Craft Series wines, which were released in September this year.
The first official outing of the first trio of Craft Series wines was in December 2014. Marris showed them to Lisa Perotti-Brown from the Wine Advocate, who rated the new 2011 Marisco Craft Series Sauvignon Blanc a 92 out of 100; along with Kevin Judd's Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc.
"That is the highest rating ever for Sauvignon Blanc in The Wine Advocate," says Marris.
The Craft Series project dates back to 2011. That vintage delivered Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier grapes, which Marris describes as excellent and, despite the fact these wines have only just been released – at four years of age – they both remain pale lemon in colour with clean, bright, fresh aromas and flavours. The third wine of the new trio is a Pinot Noir and a Craft Series Chardonnay has yet to be released; it is currently maturing in barrel.
What was his aim in branding these new wines 'Craft'?
"When you think about the truly great wines of the world, we don't necessarily talk about the grape variety that they are made from as much as we talk about the balance, flavour and texture of the wine itself," says Marris.
"This new range is our way of taking our wines to the next level and we also hope and plan to highlight the potential of some other varieties in the future too," Marris says.
Production is relatively small; approximately 150 to 200 dozen of each wine. There are no plans to increase these numbers and the wines will not be made every year. This eliminates any pressure to compromise on quality during tricky seasons.
The new Craft Series wines are single varietals, but they are not made to highlight fruit forward styles. Instead, the focus is on minimal intervention from vine to glass and, Marris says, about highlighting beauty and balance.
"Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is usually a fruit forward, grassy and herbaceous white, but for the Craft Series we are aiming to make a beautifully balanced white wine, which happens to be Sauvignon Blanc rather than trying to put its fruitiest flavour foot forward," he says, of his philosophy behind the new Craft Series wines.
"We want to give each wine a clear identity with the label, hence different brand names for the wines, so each wine has a different team member's name and details."
