The Icon series represents the culmination of years of research into specific viticultural techniques, particular attention to vineyard sites and a winemaking strategy focused on fruit structure and balance. The fruit for this wine was sourced from both the Wairau and Awatere valleys, where the vines are grown on a combination of alluvial stony soils and silty clays. Cool nights and a long, hot summer resulted in a prolonged growing season. Leaf plucking and shoot thinning of the vines, and a low cropping rate allowing the grapes to reach full maturity with an excellent balance and concentration of flavors. The grapes were harvested and destemmed, then lightly crushed allowing some whole berries to go through the maceration process. Midway through fermentation, the seeds were removed to reduce tannin extraction and encourage a smmoother style of wine. The juice then underwent cold maceration for several days. Primary fermentation took place in small, stainless steel tanks using a red wine specific yeast culture. The ferments were sluiced at four hourly intervals over ten days. Post fermentation, the wine remained on skins for five days before being racked and transferred into a mix of new and seasoned French oak barrels, to undergo maloactive fermentation and 12 months aging.