Description

2016 Horizontal Sampler – Four-Wine Library Collection

A rare opportunity to taste an entire vintage from the Foxes Island Estate

The 2016 Horizontal Sampler offers a rare and immersive way to experience a single growing season across four distinct, cellar-aged wines. Rather than viewing a vintage through the lens of one variety, this collection reveals the full story of 2016—its rhythm, precision, structure, and elegance—expressed through four unique wines crafted from the Awatere Valley estate.

“Vintage is often discussed in terms of a single wine,” notes Founder and Vigneron John Belsham, “but when you taste a collection of wines from the same year, you gain a true sense of the season itself. Each wine speaks in its own voice, yet all share the same quiet thread of vintage-driven harmony.”

Aged in the cellar before release—an approach Foxes Island has upheld since 1992, and still unique in New Zealand—the wines reveal depth, precision, and refined texture that only time can deliver. All four maintain the hallmark Foxes Island style: indigenous fermentation, restrained winemaking, and a commitment to crafting wines that express both place and season with purity and sophistication.

Perfect for gifting, at-home tastings, or building a personal cellar, this four-bottle collection is available for a limited seasonal offer and provides an exceptional way to explore the artistry of one remarkable year.

What’s Inside – The 2016 Vintage

2016 Sur Lie Aged Sauvignon Blanc
A vibrant, age-worthy Sauvignon Blanc with citrus blossom, white peach, alpine herbs, mineral flint, and a satin-like lees-derived texture. Pure, architectural, and refined.

2016 Estate Chardonnay
A single-vineyard Chardonnay from the estate’s upper terrace, showing warm citrus, apricot, chalk, brioche, and elegant structure. Indigenous ferment, cellar-aged, and beautifully balanced.

2016 Estate Pinot Noir
Crafted from three Dijon clones grown across seven river terraces, offering dark cherry, sweet spice, savoury herbs, silky tannins, and long, graceful lines.

2016 Dry Riesling
A pristine expression of dry Riesling with white peach, lime, wet stone, nectarine, and lifted acidity. Focused, mineral, and capable of aging 20 years or more.