August Giesen’s outrageous legacy is inextricably tied to the Giesen story. So producing a wine elevated to its richest expression, with meticulous care from our winemakers, seemed a fitting tribute to a legend.
Vineyard
Wairau Valley – Dillon’s Point & Matthews Lane
Winemaking
The wine is crafted to show a richer expression of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and is made to showcase cellaring potential.
Hands-on viticultural practice is key to the quality of the fruit for this wine. Vines receive a mix of spur and cane pruning to two canes, and shoots are thinned to promote even ripeness and concentrated flavours. Resulting low yields contribute to the intensely concentrated flavours in The August.
After hand picking, the fruit was whole bunch pressed to enhance flavour and retain acidity and purity. 80% of the free run juice was put in tanks before gravity filling second and third-use 1000L German oak Fuder barrels, and older French oak barriques. Fermentation was left to happen naturally with wild yeasts to add extra texture and build depth and length.
Blended directly from barrel and lightly filtered before bottling, it has been maturing since then and will continue to reward cellaring for 10 years.
With low yielding vines, hand harvesting, barrel fermentation with wild yeast, and extended maturation on lees, the meticulous care taken by our viticulture and winemaking teams is evident. As result you can expect complexity, depth, texture, and purity of flavour. A fitting tribute to a legend.
There is no wine anywhere in the world that tastes like the wine of Marlborough. Balance, purity and intense flavour set around impressive aroma, distinctive fruit and appealing balanced acidity is unrivalled.
Giesen Wines own 13 vineyards, of which 11% are certified organic with BioGro New Zealand. They have been strategically acquired throughout the highly sought after Wairau Valley and maintain strong long-term relationships with some of the Valley’s best growers. This gives us a range of grape growing conditions which ensures we consistently have the finest grapes from the region each vintage.
Giesen wines have been peeling away the layers and exploring the purity of organic flavour. Three years in the making, the Giesen Brothers have produced their first organic alternative to the traditional Marlborough sauvignon blanc. The palate has delicious fruit weight and zesty flavours and gives a taste of what nature intended, one of which nature has grown.
Renamed in August 2015, Oatley Fine Wine Merchants is the Oatley family’s Australian wine distribution business.
Oatley Fine Wine Merchants is focused on becoming a leading independent premium wine merchant recognised for the quality of the wines we offer and for the services we provide to our customers. We are committed to offering the flexibility of representation that meets your venue’s specific needs.
All of our producers are independent and family owned, where heritage and authenticity are key. We work in partnership with the wineries we represent with a commitment to deliver wines of the highest quality and standards. We will continue to evolve the portfolio of wines we offer to ensure we meet the challenges of a constantly changing market and evolving consumer preferences.
