Following their exciting first releases last year, Oraterra are back, with Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the 2024 vintage. Wilko Lam and his team navigated Martinborough’s challenging 2023 vintage for those first releases brilliantly. These second releases are a beautiful expression of the kinder, drier growing season of 2024. Read on for more details and recap of Oraterra’s story.

The Low Down

In 2022 the long standing winemaking team at the prestigious Martinborough estate Dry River, left to jump the fence and take the reins of a neighbouring vineyard. And it isn’t just any old vineyard. Planted in 1986 by Jack McCreanor, for years the fruit supplied two of the region’s top producers, Martinborough Vineyards and Escarpment. In 2016 Pahi, Gabrielle and Braden Crosby purchased the property. The Crosbys passionately looked after it, converting it to organic and dry farming, and produced excellent wines under their label On Giant’s Shoulders.

Oraterra is the next exciting iteration of wines from this vineyard, based on Princess St in the established heart of the region. With the backing of wine loving German investors, the new custodians are a dedicated crew led by Wilco Lam as Chief Winemaker, and Sarah Bartlett as General Manager.

So with an organic vineyard of 38 year old vines in hand, and a top notch winemaking team who’ve been embedded in the region for years, it’s no surprise that these wines are really something special.

The Wines

Where 2023 was challenging to say the least, Wilko describes the 2024 as a classic vintage, likening it to other great Martinborough vintages like 1998, 2001 and 2016. After a cool Spring and low fruit set, Summer and Autumn remained warm and dry, with cooler nights capturing fruit aromatics. The vineyard was managed without irrigation, and leaf cover was maintained for shading.

Pinot Gris 2024

We were reminded of Alsace when we tasted this. It’s so concentrated and textured. It’s layered with flavours of white florals, pear, fig and ripe red apple. Decadent yet fresh, there’s the suggestion of sweet spices on its lengthy finish. Hand harvested fruit was pressed and settled before racking into large 1000 litre oak foudre for wild yeast fermentation and ageing.

Chardonnay 2024

This is very very well composed Chardonnay. It’s beautifully silky in texture, more expressive of fruit concentration than winemaking technique. Generous in flavours of peach, yellow apple, and gentle savoury notes. For all its generosity and texture, there’s a fine and fresh line of acidity. Hand harvested fruit was pressed and settled. It was racked into 1000 litre French foudres for a wild yeast fermentation and aging for 18 months on lees, with full malolactic fermentation in the Spring.

Pinot Noir 2024

There’s such a great sense of purity here - all plum and cherry. It feels unforced, winemaking influence kept to a minimum, a bright core of fruit density to the fore. We love the way the palate builds, freshness and fruit giving way to a refined but firm structure.  Hand harvest fruit was sorted and destemmed, with no whole bunches. After wild yeast fermentation and skin contact for 22 to 26 days, with occasional hand plunging, the wine was pressed to 300 and 500 litre barrels for 12 to 18 months of ageing.