Deutz crowned champion sparkling wine two years in a row

The 2017 vintage of Deutz Prestige Cuvée has left a lasting impression on judges of the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Careful work to ensure winemakers were able to make the best of a ‘vintage of two halves’ paid off, resulting in the wine being awarded the Vitis and Winemakers Champion Sparkling trophy at the Show in both 2022 and 2023.

Winemaker Laura-Kate Morgan told us about some of the crucial decisions that set this wine up for success…

What is special about this wine?
Our Prestige Cuvée is a vintage wine, made using a selection of our best vineyard blocks and base wines, showcasing and capturing the finesse of Marlborough. Prestige marries the best of our fruit resource with traditional winemaking techniques. Each parcel of fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. All parcels were fermented separately either in French oak Cuvées or stainless steel and left on ferment lees whilst undergoing full malolactic fermentation. The extended lees contact contributes to the aromatic complexity and the malolactic fermentation softens the acidity to add richness to the palate.

Assemblage of the final blend, which is 64% Chardonnay and 36% Pinot Noir, was followed by a minimum of three years in the bottle on yeast lees, further enhancing and integrating flavours. 12% Reserve wine and 22% of Cuvée fermented material was decided on in the assemblage of the final blend. The liqueur is made from its own base wine held in older oak barrels.

Was 2017 a particularly good vintage?

The 2017 vintage was a season of two halves, spring kicked the season off with good growing conditions and healthy vines then we experienced a cooler and wetter grower season in April. It was the year that we had to make early decisions and luckily we managed our sparkling harvest during settled weather from the beginning of March.

The cooler growing season played into our favour for our sparkling wines. We kicked vintage off on the 6th of March. The prompt and early decision allowed for retention of bright acidity and freshness. The acidity is the backbone for our sparkling wines and exactly what we desire for our vintage Cuvées to ensure freshness and cleansing minerality. The team is proud of this wine produced from one of the more challenging years, we are delighted with the results for the Deutz Prestige Cuvée 2017.

Marlborough is known for its Sauvignon Blanc, but is clearly now making a wide range of quality wines. What makes it a good place to produce sparkling wine?  

Marlborough has a unique terroir and perfect growing conditions such as soil, climate, sunlight, and amazingly passionate people making great sparkling wines. Marlborough produces grapes with good acidity, low tannins and restrained fruit flavours, all these factors provide producers across the region with key ingredients to craft beautifully balanced sparkling wines.  

As a region we are producing some excellent sparkling wines. Groups like Méthode Marlborough come together to have a collective voice in telling the story of our beautiful region and showcasing our many great examples of traditional Méthode Marlborough wines.