The embodiment of Mother Nature, Gaia represents Mission’s deep and enduring commitment to our natural world. Seeking to minimise our impact on Earth a little more each day, The Gaia Project unites our many ongoing environmental practices to preserve our Earth for future generations.
"Juicy cherry, red berries with rich savoury notes”
The fruit was grown on select sites with free draining soils giving good fruit maturity. This 2024 Pinot Noir has a deep bright colour and a rich bouquet of cherries and dark fruit. The Palate is medium bodied and carries very sweet fruit and ripe tannins. The wine is complex, supple and with a full bodied and long finish.
The Gaia Project wines are kind on nature and wild on taste. Every aspect of their creation has been carefully considered to offer wine lovers an environmentally conscious choice with great flavour. The Gaia Project wines reflect our sustainability journey so far, from vineyard to glass.
New Zealand Winegrowing
Central to the success of New Zealand as a world-renowned wine growing region is the temperate maritime climate and the free-draining alluvial soils. The growing season is long, providing perfect conditions for slow ripening and full flavour development. Cool nights and warm days retain acidity which lends freshness and vibrancy to the wines, highly characteristic of New Zealand wine styles.
Marlborough Region
Located at the top of the South Island, Marlborough wine region is perfect for producing cool climate styles. Marlborough is one of New Zealand's sunniest and driest places with a long growing season and strong diurnal temperature variation.
This leads to wines with high acidity, fruit driven flavours and intense varietal characters.
The Gaia Project Sustainability Practices
• Mission has been a founding member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand since 1995 and ISO 14001 certified since 1998 – one of only a few wineries in New Zealand to have both certifications
• Some vineyards are certified BioGro Organic with others under conversion
• Every year we measure and benchmark our winery energy and water use with wineries of the same size. Consistently, we are below average.
• We employ regenerative viticulture techniques and have been a leader in organic vineyard research. In 2015, Mission was the winner of the Ballance Farm Environmental
Awards for Excellent Soil Management
• Our packaging is lighter on Earth with 30% recycled content in the labels, lightweight bottles and 73% recycled content in the cartons
Soils
Gravel beds, free-draining alluvial soils and stony terraces.
Growing Season
Dry, sunny and warm conditions delivering intense and characterful wines.
Winemaking Technique
Small batch ferments off several blocks were fermented warm and pressed off, after daily tasting, to find when the wine had gained optimum texture whence it was run off to tank for malolactic fermentation before partially going to barrel. Oak aging was in French barrels for 9 months.
