Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025 is a luscious sweet wine from Marlborough's Omaka Valley, made from hand-picked, botrytis-shrivelled grapes. It has cinnamon, nutmeg and satsuma mandarin peel on the nose. It was rated 94 POINTS by both Cameron Douglas MS and Stephen Wong MW, and it's a gorgeous wine for anyone who likes rich, spicy dessert wines.
In the glass expect stem ginger, sun-dried fig and apricot, with a voluptuous, honeyed texture lifted by a refreshing spine of acidity.
This is a wine for those of us who enjoy a sweet wine with spice and freshness, and it would pair well with a Portuguese custard tart or a ripe washed-rind cheese.
Greywacke made no Botrytis Pinot Gris in 2024, as conditions weren't right for noble rot, so the 2025 is the first release since the 2023.
What it tastes like
This wine has a richly aromatic bouquet that Greywacke compare to bread and butter pudding drizzled with crème anglaise. Baklava-like flavours fill the palate, which is succulent and textural, and it finishes with a zesty citrus lift.
Style at a glance
- Body: Full
- Sweetness: Sweet (130 g/L residual sugar)
- Acidity: Bright (7.1 g/L)
- Oak: Part fermented, then aged 4 months on lees, in old French oak barriques, which adds texture rather than oak flavour
- Style: Luscious, spicy botrytis Pinot Gris
Food to enjoy this with
- Portuguese custard tarts with cream
- Reblochon or other washed-rind cheese
- Blue cheese with walnuts
- Apricot tarte tatin
- Crème brûlée
- Sashimi: Cameron Douglas MS suggests it, and the wine's acidity keeps the match fresh
Who makes it
Greywacke was established in 2009 as the Marlborough label of the Judd family. It is named after New Zealand's most abundant bedrock, the grey river stones found throughout Marlborough's rivers and vineyard soils, and Kevin Judd's own vineyard photographs appear on the labels.
The fruit came from Falveys Vineyard, a 22-year-old vineyard on gravelly clay-loam soils on the floor of the Omaka Valley. The botrytis-affected grapes were all the GM2-15 clone of Pinot Gris, on spur-pruned vines trained to a vertical trellis.
Stephen Wong MW noted that Kevin Judd and winemaker Richelle Tyney have a special place in their hearts for Pinot Gris. Greywacke use minimal-intervention winemaking, with wild (indigenous) yeast fermentations used widely to add savouriness and texture.
For the 2025 vintage, the vineyard was hand-harvested on 3 June at an average of 35 Brix (a measure of grape sugar) after considerable botrytis infection. Botrytis, or noble rot, shrivels the grapes and concentrates their sugar and flavour. The shrivelled bunches were pressed whole on a very long, gentle press cycle. A quarter of the juice was fermented with wild yeast in old French oak barriques, and the rest in stainless steel with cultured yeast. The fermentations were stopped at the end of July, and the wine spent a further 4 months on yeast lees in old barriques before bottling in January 2026.
About the vintage
Greywacke's harvest report describes winter rains that refilled the soils after a warm, dry 2024 summer, with bud burst about a week ahead of the long-term average. October brought well above-average rainfall, and December was unusually warm, with many days over 30°C.
January cooled things back to a normal pace. Bunch weights across the district came in 20–50% above expectations, and Greywacke described an excellent, if drawn-out, abundant harvest that was notably warmer than average, at 1482 growing degree days.
Critic scores and ratings
- 94 POINTS – Stephen Wong MW – The Real Review, September 2026
"Golden and viscous in appearance. This is youthfully reticent, only reluctantly yielding notes of raw honey and marmalade with vigorous swirling. The palate is full-bodied, weighty and oily in texture. Clearly very sweet and botrytised, the mandarin and Thai mango flavours are flanked by angelica, saffron and licorice root, finishing with a steady phenolic grip which prevents it becoming cloying. This needs another year to relax into its skin but will offer decadent drinking as it turns spicier over the mid-term."
- 94 POINTS – Cameron Douglas MS – camdouglasms.com, August 2026
"It takes a few swirls to get the engine of this wine warmed up and when it does – fantastic! Aromas and flavours of white pepper-spiced poached pears, honeysuckle and sweet mandarin. The spices are accentuated by the alcohol and acid line delivering a wine of concentration, but not too much. Perfect food likes sashimi and baked salmon or a Portuguese custard tart with lashings of cream. Delicious, lengthy, balanced and well made with best drinking from day of purchase through 2035."
When to drink it
Cameron Douglas MS found it ready to enjoy now, with best drinking through to 2035. Stephen Wong MW suggests giving it another year and gives a drinking window of 2027–2034, as it turns spicier with time.
Technical details
| Winery: |
Greywacke |
| Wine: |
Botrytis Pinot Gris |
| Vintage: |
2025 |
| Variety: |
Pinot Gris (GM2-15 clone) |
| Region: |
Omaka Valley, Marlborough |
| Country: |
New Zealand |
| Alcohol: |
12.8% |
| Fermentation: |
25% wild yeast in old French oak barriques, 75% stainless steel with cultured yeast |
| Oak: |
4 months on lees in old French oak barriques |
| Closure: |
Screw cap |
| Cellaring: |
Now to 2035 |
Where to buy
For international delivery to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, the Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025 is available from our winenz.com website. For delivery within New Zealand, buy it from thewineryonline.co.nz. You can also buy it at our Queenstown and Arrowtown wine stores, alongside a large range of New Zealand and international wine. On both websites and in both stores you can select a mixed case from a large range of wines, and if you are visiting from overseas, we can ship it home for you.
Questions we are often asked
How sweet is Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025?
It is a fully sweet wine with 130 g/L of residual sugar, balanced by 7.1 g/L of acidity.
What is botrytis in wine?
Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, is a fungus that shrivels ripe grapes and concentrates their sugar and flavour. Greywacke hand-picked these grapes on 3 June 2025 at an average of 35 Brix.
Was there a 2024 Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris?
No. Stephen Wong MW noted that no 2024 was made, because conditions weren't right for noble rot.
What score did Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025 get?
It was rated 94 POINTS by Cameron Douglas MS and 94 POINTS by Stephen Wong MW of The Real Review.
How long will Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025 keep?
Cameron Douglas MS suggests drinking it through to 2035, and Stephen Wong MW gives a window of 2027 to 2034.
Where can I buy Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025?
The Winery ships Greywacke Botrytis Pinot Gris 2025 internationally from winenz.com to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, and delivers within New Zealand from thewineryonline.co.nz. You can also buy it in our Queenstown and Arrowtown wine stores.
