Red Hut is on a mission to shake up New Zealand wines – fed up with the ‘Savalanche’ of ubiquitous Sauvignon Blanc brands and what they refer to as “all these commercial, contrived ‘Bullshit Bays’.”
This Albariño has vibrant citrus and stone fruit profiles, a saline edge and a bright, crisp finish. Lively, expressive with both energy and finesse.
Red Hut - which is named after the huts that scatter the New Zealand countryside offering hikers and adventurers shelter and safety - consists of five wines from four regions. They place an important focus is on the relatively unknown sub-regions from where they source the grapes - Red Hut doesn’t own any vineyards, but works with tried and trusted growers, looking to make quality wines that celebrate and highlight the areas where the varietals are grown.
They are confident that, by sourcing from their preferred sub-regions, small parcel modern winemaking will showcases the diversity, quality and provenance within New Zealand’s viniculture.
Albariño is sourced from a single vineyard in Gisborne’s Hexton Village sub-region; an area which seems to suit the varietal, first planted about 12 years ago, well. The region is a lot warmer than Marlborough and gets a bit more rain during the summer, so grapes get to the right level of ripeness and hold their natural acidity.
Fruit was hand-picked and fully destemmed before being chilled to 6°C and lightly pressed to retain texture and delicacy. The juice was settled to near clarity, with a small amount of fine sediment retained to support fermentation. Fermentation was carried out in stainless steel at 15–18°C using a neutral yeast strain to preserve varietal purity. Following fermentation, the wine was matured on yeast lees for three months to naturally enhance texture and stability prior to bottling.
Red Hut is a partnership between long term friends and wine professionals Corey Ryan and Mike Farrugia. Barossa Valley born Australian winemaker Corey has had a long-term love affair with New Zealand wine driven by his time as chief winemaker of Villa Maria – 2003-08. He was named New Zealand Winemaker of the Year in 2007 and was a finalist for Australian Winemaker of the Year in 2016. A native New Zealander, Mike has worked in the New Zealand wine industry for decades selling worldwide and running his own import and distribution business. Both are keen bush walkers, drawn to the communal love of the outdoors and the willingness to help others that the Red Hut refuges offering shelter and safety in mountain areas represent.
They believe the Red Hut range reflects both the diversity and excellence that New Zealand wines can offer. Up against what they regard as the export of “fairly average” wines they are focused on tapping into excellent little sub regions - new discoveries of interest to the consumer, keen to explain the provenance of where they are from and why the wines taste they like they do.
Red Hut is on a mission to shake up New Zealand wines – fed up with the ‘Savalanche’ of ubiquitous Sauvignon Blanc brands and what they refer to as “all these commercial, contrived ‘Bullshit Bays’.”
This Albariño has vibrant citrus and stone fruit profiles, a saline edge and a bright, crisp finish. Lively, expressive with both energy and finesse.
Red Hut - which is named after the huts that scatter the New Zealand countryside offering hikers and adventurers shelter and safety - consists of five wines from four regions. They place an important focus is on the relatively unknown sub-regions from where they source the grapes - Red Hut doesn’t own any vineyards, but works with tried and trusted growers, looking to make quality wines that celebrate and highlight the areas where the varietals are grown.
They are confident that, by sourcing from their preferred sub-regions, small parcel modern winemaking will showcases the diversity, quality and provenance within New Zealand’s viniculture.
Albariño is sourced from a single vineyard in Gisborne’s Hexton Village sub-region; an area which seems to suit the varietal, first planted about 12 years ago, well. The region is a lot warmer than Marlborough and gets a bit more rain during the summer, so grapes get to the right level of ripeness and hold their natural acidity.
Fruit was hand-picked and fully destemmed before being chilled to 6°C and lightly pressed to retain texture and delicacy. The juice was settled to near clarity, with a small amount of fine sediment retained to support fermentation. Fermentation was carried out in stainless steel at 15–18°C using a neutral yeast strain to preserve varietal purity. Following fermentation, the wine was matured on yeast lees for three months to naturally enhance texture and stability prior to bottling.
Red Hut is a partnership between long term friends and wine professionals Corey Ryan and Mike Farrugia. Barossa Valley born Australian winemaker Corey has had a long-term love affair with New Zealand wine driven by his time as chief winemaker of Villa Maria – 2003-08. He was named New Zealand Winemaker of the Year in 2007 and was a finalist for Australian Winemaker of the Year in 2016. A native New Zealander, Mike has worked in the New Zealand wine industry for decades selling worldwide and running his own import and distribution business. Both are keen bush walkers, drawn to the communal love of the outdoors and the willingness to help others that the Red Hut refuges offering shelter and safety in mountain areas represent.
They believe the Red Hut range reflects both the diversity and excellence that New Zealand wines can offer. Up against what they regard as the export of “fairly average” wines they are focused on tapping into excellent little sub regions - new discoveries of interest to the consumer, keen to explain the provenance of where they are from and why the wines taste they like they do.
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