Te Whare Ra Single Vineyard Pinot Gris 2021

We are passionate about aromatic varieties and particularly those from Alsace so it was only a matter of time until we took on the challenge of Pinot Gris. When we first bought the property here, we replanted a section of the old block with the Berry-Smith clone (also known as Larkham clone) of Pinot Gris. We selected this particular clone especially for its low cropping, small bunches and small berries as we felt it would deliver the best quality fruit. This is a single vineyard release from our winery home block

Pinot Gris is the “sister” of Pinot Noir and shares many of its familial “issues”. It is quite crop sensitive and we feel that to get the best out of it you really have to go the extra mile in the vineyard. So like Pinot Noir it is all shoot-thinned, and bunch thinned and we often remove the bunch shoulders as well. This means that we can get it into the winery with lovely fruit purity as well as concentration.

Organic & regenerative viticulture All pruned to 2 cane VSP Shoot thinned and bunch-thinned as required Cover crops, compost and cowsh*t

All fruit for this wine was hand-picked and hand-sorted. The grapes were destemmed, crushed then air bag pressed, some parcels had lengthier skin contact time. Free run and pressings were fermented separately. Fermentation: 76 % stainless steel, plus 24% in old French oak for texture and complexity. The tank portions underwent slow, cool ferments to retain aromatics. Barrel ferment parcels were carried out in large format neutral oak on full lees, lees-stirred regularly. All parcels given time on ferment lees to provide texture and complexity. This wine has not been fined and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and anyone else who loves authentic, hand-made wines.