Folium

Made by Takaki Okada, Folium comes from a single vineyard site in Marlborough. Takaki, originally from Japan, studied viticulture at UC Davis, California after completing an Agricultural Degree in Hokkaido. He previously spent seven years at Clos Henri in Marlborough, the last four of which as vineyard manager.

The region clearly needs no introduction for the quality of its Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc (and, increasingly, Chardonnay), its wide diurnal temperature range during the growing season allowing the retention of higher natural acidity and the accumulation of aromatics and flavour components. However, sometimes the typical Marlborough style of Sauvignon Blanc can seem a little bit much. The combination of high acidity, intense pyrazine aromatics and flavours laced with a splash of residual sugar is not appreciated by all. Folium does not subscribe to that style.

Folium Vineyard is an 8.4ha vineyard located in the Brancott Valley of Marlborough. The soil was created by ancient glacial action and river systems. Low vigour clay based soil in Brancott Valley can retain sufficient moisture during dry summer to balance the growth of the vines. Detailed care in the vineyard starts with pruning in winter, followed by canopy management, such as shoot and bunch thinning, and leaf plucking during the summer, all the way to hand harvesting at optimum ripeness in the autumn. The organically certified vineyard (certified by Biogro on March 2012) comprises 1.8ha of Sauvignon Blanc (0.7 ha planted in 1996, 1.1ha planted in 2003), and 1.1ha of Pinot Noir (0.4ha planted in 1996, 0.7ha planted in 2003). The planting density is 4,200 vines/ha.