BACKGROUND

There were a number of factors that came together to initiate the first wines of Mahi in 2001.

Winemaker Brian Bicknell had made wine in various parts of the world for about fifteen vintages and had been making wine with grapes from Marlborough for most of that time. Having arrived from Chile to live in Marlborough in 1996 he could see that the various valleys and sites within Marlborough were making quite different styles of wines. Most of the Marlborough wines at the time were being blended across the different areas, with the different characteristics being lost in the construction of a truly regional blend. In other areas of the world these differences were being celebrated and so the idea of a label celebrating these different sites was hatched.

At the same time many Marlborough wineries were getting bigger and there was comment in the international press that Marlborough was perhaps losing some of its personality and many of the wines tasted the same. The obvious solution was to use a new label to show these differences so that people could see that Marlborough had true depth and complexity across the region.

The idea had been formed for some time but the final factor that started it all was when Brian’s father developed terminal cancer, and as happens to us all, the realization of our own mortality proved to be the impetus that was needed to finally start making the wines of Mahi.

The name Mahi was chosen, meaning ‘our work, our craft’ to show that the label was owned by wine-focussed people, who lived wine, rather than just a label dreamt up to fulfil a market segment for a couple of years.

The first vineyard that was chosen to illustrate a particular style of the region came from a small 1.5 hectare parcel of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in the Byrne vineyard, located in the Conder’s Bend area of Marlborough.

The initial quantities were minute and with Brian’s primary focus being on the wines and business of another wine label, there was little time to focus on growing Mahi. Most of the administration and vineyard work was completed by his wife Nicola and very little time was spent in promoting the wines as they were all selling through word of mouth.

The style of winemaking was also aimed at allowing the vineyards to speak through the wines, with the wines being made in a very ‘hands-off’ manner. The primary emphasis for all the wines is texture, aiming for wines that give real palate satisfaction rather than fruit-bomb styles.  For the single-vineyard wines the fruit is hand-picked and sorted prior to being ‘whole-cluster’ pressed at the winery. Fermentation is most often done with the indigenous yeasts that arrive on the grapes, and if barrels are used these will be French, as they give a more savoury character to the wines. With the Pinot Noir everything is hand-plunged and to date all have been bottled unfiltered, allowing the true vineyard expression to come through.

The styles have been appreciated with Huon Hooke, one of Australia’s top wine writers stating:

“This is a name to watch: quantities are tiny as yet, but the quality is high,
thanks to Bicknell’s great energy, attention to detail and restless quest for quality.”

In 2003 another vineyard, Twin Valleys, was selected, as it was in another distinctive part of the Wairau Valley, being located in Fareham Lane, which is quite far west in the valley, meaning slightly cooler temperatures and longer ripening times. The vineyard had no Sauvignon planted and the focus was on the Burgundian varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In 2003 only Chardonnay was available and the eventual wine proved to be stunning. Since then a series of elegant Chardonnays have come from this parcel and from 2006 Pinot Noir and Gewurztraminer have also been made from this parcel. In 2007 the owners, Pete and Anne Reed, purchased a vineyard close by and Sauvignon will soon be available from this area.

In 2004 an opportunity to take some Sauvignon Blanc from a vineyard closer to the sea presented itself and since then the Francis Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc has been produced. Being on a slightly more fertile and warmer site the wines have exhibited a richer palate and more tropical notes on the nose than Byrne, and the comparison of these two wines exhibit perfectly the original idea of the label. The Francis family has a long history with Brian and Nicola as Polly Francis had worked five vintages with Brian and worked the first vintage at the Mahi winery in 2007.

The next major step forward for Mahi was when Brian resigned from his other employment in July 2006 to focus solely on Mahi and his consultancy clients in Marlborough and Chile. This opened a range of opportunities, with the key one ending with the purchase of the historic winery that had made the wines of Cellier Le Brun since 1984. Having a dedicated winery had been a long-held dream as it means that the winemakers have total control of the winemaking process and also gives Mahi a ‘home’.

Work was immediately started to upgrade the winery so that it suited the styles that Mahi was making and the first vintage of Mahi in its new home was 2007. Work continues and the caves into the hillside have been changed so they are suitable for barrel storage, with the tanks been refrigerated to suit Sauvignon Blanc fermentations.

With the purchase of the winery a lease of an excellent vineyard was taken up and another very good grower was also added. The greater numbers of vineyards meant that the focus was broadened as the winery could not efficiently sell and distribute six single-vineyard Sauvignons and with the 2007 vintage the first ‘Marlborough’ Sauvignon was produced along with two single vineyard wines. 

Looking forward the focus will remain on exhibiting the quality and diversity of the wines from the Marlborough region. We will continue to seek out the vineyards for the various varieties and remain at a size that allows us to remain intimately connected with the vineyards and wines.