Rippon
Nick Mills has returned home after several years away, working with the likes of Alain and Sophie Meunier at Domaine JJ Confuron, and Pascal Marchand (late of Domaine Comte Armand and now at Domaine de la Vougeraie). This experience with some of the leading players in Burgundy has fired him with enthusiasm, and we are already seeing the fruits of his experience in the changes in viticulture (to bio-dynamism) and the increased depth of mineral complexity in the wines.
Nick Mills on Biodynamics: 'Granted custodianship over this very special piece of land, the family's principle goal is to create vins de terroir, wines that are an accurate reflection of their surroundings. It is the micro-life in our soils which, in their ability to metabolise minerals into a form that vines can assimilate, are the link in between plants and the earth. This simple biology is the essential framework in producing a wine which is true to its soil and site. With this understanding comes an absolute respect for the land and life therein and it is for this reason that Rippon is run biodynamically. Decisions made in the vineyard and winery first consider the effect the outcome may have on the micro-flora of the soils, vines & wines. Rippon does not use herbicides, fungicides, pesticides or soluble nitrogenous fertilisers on the property. All the property's organic waste matter is recycled to make around 40 tonnes of fungal dominant compost every year. This is spread back over the land during the first descending moon after harvest as an inoculation of beneficial micro-flora for the whole property...and thus starts a diverse and vital web of life on which to live and produce.
Other reviews and comments
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
What sets this wine apart from the ever increasing number of Sauvignons is the fabulous balance of ripeness, texture and minerality. 40% of the blend was fermented in old French barrels, not for the oak, but for the form of the vessel itself. We think that this is quite the best vintage of Nick's Sauvignon that we have tasted. It is a mindblowing Sauvignon with fabulous fruit and awesome length, which is more in line with a Chablis than a tropical... (more info)
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
A delicious Gewurztraminer that does not rely upon sweetness, but wonderful definition and minerality. Given a slow, whole bunch pressing the wine undergoes extended lees contact giving depth of flavour and texture.
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
The fruit is from Rippon's mature vines, whose root hairs have invaded the schist rock below. Lurking towards the end of the first mouthful is substantial phenolic power and it soon starts to take charge of the wine... and give it its sense of place. You will never again say that you don't like Riesling!
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
Nick Mills does it again, and it would be difficult to find such a perfect and seductive expression of Pinot Noir almost anywhere else in the world. In the words of Matthew Jukes: 'If you want the world to move for you, drink Rippon'.
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
A unique parcel within Rippon, Emma’s Block faces eastward on the lakefront where ancient clay reefs run laterally through fine schist gravels. Emma’s Block is named after the great-great-great grandmother of the current generation of the Mills family, through whom the name entered into the family.
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Central Otago South Island New Zealand
A unique parcel within Rippon, Tinker’s Field is a gentle, north facing slope formed by an ancient ejection cone of coarse schist gravels. Tinker’s Field is home to the oldest vines on the property and is named after Rippon’s visionary founder, Rolfe Mills (Tink to his friends), and the land that he had dreamed of farming since childhood.