This organic wine label hails from the Upper Moutere Valley in Nelson. A range with funky labelling, designed I’m guessing to appeal to a younger generation, and looking outside the box of your traditional styles. One of their website statements is “we always allow the wine to do the talking, leading its own life through fermentation and ageing in the winery providing what we believe is the most honest expression of the fruit that we started with.” The estate vineyard is 5 hectares on Moutere clays, growing Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They also have access to local organic fruit. All varieties are fermented separately, with the best parcels going to their top tier of ‘Luta’ wines.
The ‘Life on Mars’ white blend 2022 is Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. As befits a mix of varietals, it is made in a mix of tank and barrel. With peach, apricot, apple and dried pineapple on the nose, and following through to the palate. Textural, with a delicious light phenolic element, coming from time on lees – this sees minimal skin-contact when pressed. A super picnic wine for summer which will take a chill well.
I’m a fan of orange wines, and ‘Life’s a Beach’ orange 2022 is a funky skin-fermented blend of Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay aged in a mixture of old puncheons and stainless steel. Dry, with a prickle of phenolics and fruit tannin. Orange peel, apricot, apple pie and sliced pear flavours wander through the palate. Fun, mouth-wateringly succulent and with bags of character.
The theme of smashable summer wines continues with ‘La de Da’ light red 2022 – a chillable blend of Pinot and Merlot with Gewürztraminer from the Abel Valley. 50% of the reds went through carbonic maceration. A distinctively earthy funk on the nose, leads to a palate packed with a fruit salad of red berries and nectarine that pops with crunchy fruit. This bright juiciness also has a layer of savoury salami and mineral notes waiting to be discovered underneath. A fabulous sweet finish. Top stuff.
The more straightforward red ‘Jurassic’ Red 2022 has the same varietals as La de Da, but the Gewürztraminer here is from Waipara. Quick 5-8 day ferments results in a light/medium-bodied wine with a Pinot-led personality. Cherry, damson and green herbals, with spicy tannin and a lithe structure to the energy-laden palate. It sparkles with juicy fruit and could also take a light chill, the wine then moving through the gears as it came to room temperature.
The Luta ‘Echoes’ Chardonnay 2020 is named after those clay soils, and is the premium range. 10 months in 5-8 year old puncheons. Aromatic, with grapefruit, red apple, white peach and pear on the nose. Dry and buoyed by a wave of crisp acidity it has bags of tight structure into the palate. A grip of pithy peach-skin phenolic underlines the fleshy fruit. Drinking well now, but should loosen some of those edges in a couple of years.
