Auntsfield Methode Ancestrale

Auntsfield is the home to Marlborough’s very first vineyard and winery which dates back to 1873. While other early settlers saw sheep, David Herd saw wine! He planted the first vines in the region and made a cheeky little Brown Muscat wine and this continued to be made at Auntsfield Estate for another 50 years until 1931.

Some 100 years later in 1973 Frank Yukich of Montana planted vines in the area and declared “Wines from here will become world famous.” Frank was bang on the money.

Brothers Luc and Ben Cowley are the second generation Cowleys to run the Auntsfield Estate family business and carry on the legacy of one of Marlborough and New Zealand wine’s most historically important sites. No pressure lads!

The original cellar door from 1973 has been lovingly restored and the remains of the original homestead still stand on site today.

This is a fizz made in celebration of David Herd. Using David’s original vineyard site, the specific Muscat clone and produced using the méthode ancestrale or ancestral method, the oldest known method of making sparkling wine dating back to the sparkling wines of Limoux in the 1500s!

Méthode ancestrale (aka pétillant-naturel aka pet nat – they’re all the rage at the moment!) are sparkling wines fermented just once (not twice like methode traditionelle) and sealed under a crown cap. They get their bubbles by the grapes’ natural sugars inside the bottle. They’re not filtered and no sugar added, which is why it’s considered more “natural” than other sparkling wine styles.

With the single fermentation happening inside the bottle it means no two of the total 645 bottles made of this vintage are exactly the same. A slightly sweeter style fizz that’s fresh and lively and quite simply delicious. A little bit of history under ever cap.

Try serving this chilled with a cheese and charcuterie board!