Nautilus has been at the vanguard of Pinot Noir winemaking in Marlborough for over twenty four years, since crafting its first Pinot Noir in 1997. Early plantings of Dijon clones and experimenting with single clone/single site trials led to a rapid appreciation of the potential for this variety in the region. Each year we release a limited pack to share with our costumers, this year…
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Tag Archives: Vintage
A Charming Trio
Tags: clive jones, Marlborough, Pinot Noir, Vineyards, Vintage, wines
Three Decades of Nautilus Chardonnay
The story of Nautilus Chardonnay begins in 1989 when the first wine was made from what is now our own Nautilus Renwick vineyard (you know the classic story – we liked the wine so much, we had to buy the vineyard). This vineyard has remained the cornerstone vineyard for our Chardonnay programme ever since. Throughout the ’90s, Chardonnay grew to be a significant and successful part of the Nautilus…
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Tags: Chardonnay, clive jones, Marlborough, new zealand, Vineyards, Vintage, wine, winemaking
Vintage Report 2019
Vintage report 2019 The 2019 season started well with no significant frost issues and reasonable spring rains to develop healthy canopies. Some cool weather during flowering affected the bunch size of some varieties – particularly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – and as a result, crops were naturally slightly down. January and February were then extremely dry with virtually no rainfall for two months and warmer…
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Tags: Marlborough, Vineyards, Vintage
A Vintage Meal
During vintage we all work very hard and a good meal is essential to keep you going. When we are working shifts we work in with local catering company BV Gourmet who provided with delicious nutritious meals and we can simply re-heat and eat for lunch or dinner to keep the crew going. Of course occasionally we get the opportunity to relax a bit…
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Tags: harvest, Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc, Vintage, vintage meal, wines
View From the Top
We began making Nautilus Marlborough Chardonnay in 1989 buying grapes from a vineyard in Renwick. The fruit held such promise we bought the vineyard shortly afterward. Despite this early potential, it was undoubtedly a challenging beginning for Chardonnay in our portfolio. We struggled with inferior clonal selection, high yields and faulty corks – you name it. So in the late 90’s we decided to…
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Tags: Chardonnay, clive jones, Marlborough, renwick, Vineyards, Vintage, winemaking, wines
Vintage Report 2017
There is no doubt that 2017 was a year where we had to push things to the limits to make the best possible wines, and the experience of the crew really paid off. In a good year anyone can make good wines, however the more challenging years can be just as rewarding for a quality-focused producer and we are very proud of the wines we…
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Tags: Marlborough, New Zealand wines, Vintage, wines
Vintage 2015
A few chilly nights in spring caused some sleepless nights and while there were no visits by Jack Frost to our blocks the cooler weather did influence flowering and only a moderate crop was set. All the talk over summer was about drought and with the lowest rainfall in over 80 years recorded over summer the valley was looking extremely dry and a good…
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Tags: clive jones, report, Vintage, Winemaker
Vintage 2014 Report
A mild spring and warm & settled December resulted in a good fruit set and higher than average cropping levels. Considerable fruit thinning was carried out across all varieties to ensure the vines were balanced. Throughout spring and early summer the season was warmer than average and we were anticipating an early vintage. Post-Christmas temperatures were more normal but we still managed our earliest start…
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Nautilus Estate Vintage Rosé launched
Nautilus Cuvée Marlborough Brut NV has long been regarded as one of NZ’s top sparkling wines. This NV is so good that we have resisted the temptation to produce a vintage wine as we just don’t see how we could make it any better. However recently we got thinking about something a little different and Wednesday 16th October saw the launch of our new vintage sparkling…
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Tags: Amanda Skoog, Ballet, Glengarry, Launch, Methode Marlborough, RNZB, Rose, Sparkling wine, Vintage