From the Winery:
The Sancta vineyard is a gently sloping, north facing vineyard, running down from the hills behind toward the Kawarau River in front. The Slapjack Block is in a prime site, with the Riesling vines, planted on their own root stock in 1995, amongst the oldest Riesling vines in Central Otago. Detailed analysis of the Slapjack Block shows that it is very high in its percentage of schist gravels, most likely from the glaciers that filled the area in previous geological eras. At the levels of the deepest vine roots, schist dominates (about 75%), but is complemented by silty loam and clay.

The 2011 harvest had a heat spike in March which resulted in the earliest ever picking of this block on the 29th. The Slapjack Block was monitored closely to ensure that the Riesling was picked at the early spectrum of ripening to preserve the natural acidity with balanced natural sweetness.

The picking window for this style of Riesling is very short, making the decision on when to harvest the grapes the most critical part of crafting the wine. Immediately after picking, the hand-harvested grapes were whole bunch pressed and cold settled overnight with delicate handling. The juice was racked to a stainless steel tank where it underwent a cool fermentation for about 20 days. The fermentation is stopped at optimal balance and the wine is racked off fermentation lees to preserve the fresh aromatics.