Wine Region	Central Otago, New Zealand
Wine Maker	Rudi Bauer
Situated in the heart of the Central Otago wine region, Quartz Reef produces and specializes in premium sparkling wine, pinot gris and pinot noir wines.   Quartz Reef blends the proven winemaking talents of Austrian-born Rudi Bauer, whose pinot noirs have won a host of gold medals in New Zealand and Australia, and Clotilde Chauvet, whose family own the Champagne house of Marc Chauvet in France.   Rudi arrived in New Zealand in 1985, after gaining degrees in Austria and Germany, in both viticulture and winemaking. He worked at Misson, Rippon and Giesen (doing vintages in his off-seasons in California and Oregon), before forming Quartz Reef in 1996 with Clotilde and their partners. Rudi describes their label as reflecting the old and the new - the history in the region and in the 400 years of winemaking by the Chauvet family, whose confidence that the region could produce excellent sparkling wine was the foundation for the venture. He has produced a number of medal and trophy-winning wines over the years and was named Champion Winemaker of the Year in 1999 at the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand Easter Wine Show.
What the critics have to say!
"...Central Otago, where young winemakers have a reputation for late night carousing, which is at odds with rural New Zealand's once stuffy image...The 1999s such as Felton Road Block 5 and Quartz Reef show that extra savoury dimension that Pinotphiles seek once they have satisfied themselves that a region is capable of producing authentic Pinot Noir fruit flavours." Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times, Feb 2001