Organic. This year, the blend for Corofin’s ‘village’ wine comprised fruit from the Brawn Vineyard, a mere three kilometres from the ocean (60%) and the Wrekin Vineyard occupying its own small locality tucked into the foothills of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys (40%). The Brawn Vineyard lies on Kaiapoi silt loam over pea gravel and is home to an old-vine Mendoza clone that is now rare in Marlborough.

Driven by precision from Wrekin and salinity from Brawn, the 2023 fermented on high solids and aged for 18 months in 500-litre seasoned French oak puncheons and two stainless barrels. It’s a wine of pulpy intensity and energy, weaving cool citrus and fleshy lime—and more nutty complexity—through layers of silken fruit. We love how this wine achieves such sophisticated texture without any sense of heaviness.

Organic. Planted in 2002, The Wrekin Vineyard occupies its own small locality tucked into the foothills of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. It’s a significant site for Corofin, and the region in general, providing both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of “exceptional individuality and quality,” according to Mike Paterson. 

Owned by Jan and Andrew Johns and farmed by Jeremy Highland, Wrekin sits in the lee of the Southern Valley scarps on clay-rich soils laid over greywacke mother rock. Orientated northeast and planted at 4000 vines per hectare (to moderate vigour), it’s also one of the highest vineyards in the valley, producing archetypal cool-climate fruit that balances fleshy texture with racy drive.

Hand-harvested on March 19th and raised in 500-litre seasoned French oak puncheons, the wines aged for two winters in the cellar building texture and freshness from it’s lees. Of the two single-vineyard Chardonnays this year, Wrekin is more knife-edged, with white stone fruit and Meyer lemon exuberance pulsating through the chalky finish.

Organic. Sitting in the lee of the Wither Hills to the southeast of the Wairau Valley floor, the Brawn Vineyard lies on Kaiapoi silt loam over pea gravel, closer to the ocean than Corofin’s other sites. It’s home to an old-vine Mendoza clone that is now rare in Marlborough, “most of the old blocks have been ripped out and replaced with Sauvignon,” sighs Paterson. It’s the thick skins of this old-vine fruit that Paterson credits with his wine’s succulent extract and spice tones. In addition, both Glover and Paterson have identified a unique saline/umami note to the Chardonnay from this site. “It’s a wonderful block to work with,” says Mike Paterson

This year, Brawn was hand-harvested two weeks after Wrekin and pressed at a snail’s pace to extract all this coastal vineyard’s striking fruit intensity.  Of the two single vineyards this year, Brawn is again the more textural and exuberant; the nose brings more spice and the mouthcoating palate is layered with notes of yellow fruit, wild fennel and blossom all leaning into a chiselled finish. Two winters aging on lees brings composure and brightness. This is elite-level Chardonnay.

Rather than casting the net wide to unknown and unproven sources, Mike Paterson composed this ‘village’ wine from his most prized vineyards―the sites responsible for his exceptional single-vineyard bottlings. This year’s release combined fruit from the Wrekin (55%) and Settlement (45%) Vineyards in Omaka Valley, harvested two days apart. Paterson loves the combination of these two sites, finding harmony in the elegant, red-fruited suppleness of Settlement and the brooding, savoury weight of Wrekin.

It's not hard to understand why Corofin’s regional blend shine so brightly. The quality of the vineyards is one thing, as is the crafting, which includes handpicking, natural fermentation, gentle extraction and long lees aging in oak. Bottled at 13%, it’s a delicate and succulent Corofin Pinot laden with vivid red fruits. There’s a whisp of smoke cosseted by fine cherry-ripe acidity and refined structure. Lovely.

Organic. Planted in 2002, The Wrekin Vineyard occupies its own small locality tucked into the foothills of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys, a place the John’s family refer to a Fairhall Valey.  It’s a significant site for Corofin, and the region in general, providing both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of “exceptional individuality and quality,” according to Mike Paterson. Owned by Jan and Andrew Johns and farmed by Jeremy Highland, Wrekin sits in the lee of the Southern Valley scarps on clay-rich soils laid over greywacke mother rock. 

Oriented northeast and planted at 4000 vines per hectare (to moderate vigour), it’s also one of the highest vineyards in the valley, producing fruit that is often the last to be harvested. Mike Paterson explains that this site gives him Corofin’s most dense and dark-fruited expression. The gorgeous, svelte 2023 is, then, true to form; a wonderfully layered fusion of sweet-toned, wild berry fruit, herbal lift and delicate oak spice. The nicely sculpted tannins draw the flavours into a super finish. It’s still in its cocoon phase and has everything required to age gracefully for a decade. 

Organic. The 20-year-old Settlement Vineyard is located on the slopes of the Omaka Valley to the south of Marlborough’s Wairau Plains. This organic-certified site is owned by Dog Point and is managed by gun viticulturist Nigel Sowman. The fruit for this bottling hails from a tiny sliver of vines at the top of the vineyard’s east slope, a clay-rich parcel planted at 4,000 vines per hectare (all 777 clone). Typically, the Settlement fruit is among the first to be picked and tends to sit in the red-fruited, youthfully radiant end of the Corofin single-vineyard spectrum. That said, Mike Paterson tells us he’s witnessed a significant evolution in the phenolic structure of the fruit in recent years.

This is classic Settlement. Picked on 14th March and cropped at 40 hl/ha, it’s already super impressive and loaded with succulent red berry and sour cherry fruit backed up by blue florals, forest floor and a streak of brown spice. It’s so nuanced, refined and powdery; that Paterson weaves this clay-rich site into something so finessed is the sign of a great winemaker. Lots of whole berries, delicate excitation—jugotage!—and slow winemaking may provide the answers.