Flying Mouton is a label crafted by Osawa Wines using grapes exclusively from their vineyard based at Kereru Road, Maraekakaho, Hawke’s Bay, NZ. 

Hawke’s Bay has 22 different soil types and varying microclimates, making the region ideal for a large range of wines. The region experiences high summer temperatures with cooler nights, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly, concentrating the flavour and creating wines of great intensity. 

The name ‘Flying Mouton’ (Mouton means sheep in French) relates to the confusion of the region’s early settlers over the cumulus cloud formations commonly seen in the local skies. They thought these clouds resembled the sheep grazing on their land and so they called the clouds ‘Flying Sheep’ – these are depicted on the wine label. 

Owned by Japanese wine lover and traveller Taizo Osawa, the Flying Mouton wines are produced mainly for the Japanese market. In Japan, Mouton is a very widely used French word and so easily recognized. Also, Japanese people tend to associate sheep with New Zealand - another positive for this unique branding idea.

Parcels of land in the Maraekakaho vineyard are chosen based on their suitability for producing certain grape varieties. This is a great grape growing philosophy which helps Flying Mouton to showcase top-notch examples of varietals including Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Cabernet Merlot and Pinot Gris.

Because this label by Osawa is still very new (compared to most others in New Zealand which have a long heritage in the region), information online about these wines is relatively scarce. Believe me, this is a label to watch and I have a feeling these wines will be well received by critics world-wide as providores of great value NZ wines. - Daniel Jess