Greywacke Pinot Gris 2017

A lush concoction of baked figs, poached pears and crystallised ginger drizzled with manuka honey and a light sprinkling of soft brown sugar. Greywacke Pinot Gris is a ripe, opulent expression of the variety made in a voluptuous off-dry style that has considerable concentration and a long, luscious finish.

Much of the fruit for this wine is from the Selection Ovaille and Mission clones grown at Wrekin Terrace Vineyard in the Brancott Valley, a valley floor site on gravelly clay-loam soils typical of the Southern Valleys. A smaller parcel of the Entav 52 clone (known for its small bunch and berry size) was grown at Riverbrook Vineyard in Rapaura, in young alluvial soils containing high proportions of greywacke river stones. The vineyards are trained on a two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellis and crop thinning is carried out to target a modest yield of 7.5 T/Ha.

The three clones were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. The resulting juice was coldsettled, then racked to fermentation vessels. Most of the juice went through a natural indigenous yeast fermentation in old French oak barriques and the balance was fermented in stainless steel tanks using cultured yeast.