Weird and wild things happen when you skin ferment Sauvignon Blanc. For starters, it's already an aromatic variety. do you really have to tease out more aroma? Yes. Sometimes it's fun to state the obvious, Sav Blanc is grassy and passionfruity, but what if we push it further? Suddenly there's yuzu, orange skin, sherbert, cider, jalapeño, and spicy ginger... the list goes on. Yet the palate is very approachable, mostly fruity, with lovely tension and grip. We love it with Turkish meze.

It all began in 2002 when Theo Coles, winemaker and something of a wine rock n' roller in NZ, stumbled across an etching of a large, ugly looking ram standing in a field. As he describes it, the image defiant, a little savage, had an old world charm and was very New Zealand. The picture now rests in Theo's lounge room, and provided the inspiration for his wine label, the Hermit Ram. It wasn't until 10 years later, when Theo was already busy with other winemaking gigs, that he met someone who could sell him fruit to make his dream come true - make his own wine, his own way, from a great vineyard. That first Pinot Noir was from 2012, and was labelled as The Hermit Ram. Today, the range of wines has expanded. In general the fruit comes from tiny vineyards throughout the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Every wine has its own story to tell. The vines are naturally farmed and the wines made with the minimal amount of additions. They are wines of depth, complexity, individuality and most importantly drinkability.