Producer
Establishing Mahi, meaning ‘our work, our craft’, was a long-held dream for Brian and Nicola Bicknell. A seasoned international winemaker, Brian made Mahi’s first vintage in 2001, and in 2006 they finally purchased a winery in the very heart of Marlborough. It is the texture of these wines that particularly impresses; while far from heavy, they have a sense of substance that places them among the very best in Marlborough.
Vineyard
This wine blended from three vineyards in the cooler western end of the valley, on complex soils or silt and clay with some stones. The vines are aged between thirteen and twenty-four years. The yields are kept fairly low, with green harvesting if necessary. The grapes were hand-harvested from the 19th to the 30th of March.
Winery
The grapes were sorted and then eighty percent destemmed. The must was cold soaked before fermentation in small vats with wild yeast, and hand-plunged thrice daily once fermentation was underway. After three weeks on skins, it was run off to French oak barriques for thirteen months’ ageing.
