Axehouse Vineyard Gruner Veltliner 2024

$42.00 NZD

PDF Tasting Sheet

Single Vineyard: Axehouse Vineyard
Subregion: Omaka Valley | Southern Valleys
Region: Marlborough
Vintage: 2024
Soil Type: Light clay loams over silts and gravel
Clone: A1-2
Viticulture: Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Growers: Jonathan and Robyn Falloon

Appellation Marlborough Wine Certified (AMW)
Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Vegan | Vegetarian

Fourteen years on from our inaugural Marlborough Grüner Veltliner, we’ve learned a thing of two about this fascinating variety. 2024 is our exciting debut from the Axehouse Vineyard, home to a hectare of some of the oldest Grüner vines in the country. Jonathan and Robyn Falloon meticulously nurture these vines while their award-winning homestead lends the property its edgy name.

The Omaka Valley's warm days, cool nights and clay-loam soils deliver perfect ripening, allowing this Grüner to unfurl with full-bodied richness, vibrant yuzu citrus and white-pepper aromatics. It nods to its Austrian roots with savoury, textural intrigue, while fully embracing New Zealand’s fruit-driven precision and opulence.

This Grüner Veltliner is a collaboration between site and thoughtful winemaking, designed to reveal the vineyard’s mineral clarity and textural nuance while using measured oak to lift, not dominate.

Fruit is hand-harvested, then destemmed and crushed to allow a brief, controlled skin contact that builds textural complexity and white pepper aromatics. Fermentation is split by vessel so the wine gains the brightness of stainless steel and the structural, aromatic nuance of French oak puncheons (20% new).

After uniting the parcels the wine is aged on fine lees for 11 months in puncheons to develop savoury flavours, fine-grained texture and a layered mid-palate while retaining a richness of fruit and definition of place.

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Reviews

5 STARS

"This impressive wine was hand-harvested in the Omaka Valley from “some of the oldest Grüner vines in the country”. Fermented in a mix of tanks and barrels, and then fully matured for 11 months in French oak puncheons. Bright, light yellow/green, it is a lovely wine, full-bodied and sweet-fruited, with balanced acidity and concentrated, peachy, spicy flavours. Drink now onwards."

- Michael Cooper MA ONZM

95 Points

"Distinctly savoury nose with celery salt, earthy spice and pepper. The palate has come together and is showing lovely weight, integrated wood tannins, ripe green apple and complex savoury flavours of paprika and mushroom. Almost bone dry, the phenolics lend a satisfyingly peppery finish. Ready to go now as the palate has rounded out and gained weight, but the tapered structure and fresh acidity will allow it to continue developing complexity for a few years."

- Stephen Wong MW

93 Points

"The clay-loam soils and excellent growing environment has delivered a wine of varietal power, intrigue and energy. Flavours of white spices and a touch of Szechuan, crisp green pear then apple, and a citrus almost sweet grapefruit quality. A silk touch on the palate leads to a textured wine with some fruit tannins, there’s a fine leesy seam adding texture and depth, a backbone of acidity and classic herbaceous highlights on the mid and back palate. Delicious, fresh, taut and very new. A wine that can be enjoyed today or cellared for 1 -2 more years if desired. Best drinking from day of purchase through 2030."

- Cameron Douglas MS

93 Points

"Axehouse vineyard lies in the Omaka Valley. While the area is renowned for its pinot noir and coastal-influenced aromatics, grüner veltliner remains a rarity here, with these vines among the oldest plantings of the variety in the country. An immediately attractive wine, it opens with blossoming frangipani, lemon cream and white nectarine, the aromatics bright and inviting. The palate confirms its grüner veltliner identity, shaped by distinctive notes of radish and galangal root. Fleshy greengage plum and fine white tea tannins add texture and poise. This is a clear expression of Marlborough’s climate, paying homage to the variety’s Austrian origins while offering a more generous, approachable style. It will reward richly at the table, especially alongside artichokes, leeks, onion and other savoury vegetable dishes."

- Shanteh Wale

90 Points

"Sensitively made, 2024 Grüner Veltliner Axehouse Vineyard isn't trying to be anything it's not. It does take a little time to open up, and I recommend decanting it for the best possible varietal expression. It then reveals rich apple, ripe citrus and that radish-like spiciness you want from a Grüner. Concentration and clarity are key characteristics of the 2024, but there's also a roundness and textural, pastry-laced aspect that comes from its 11 months of aging on lees in puncheons."