Frost fighting
September 22, 2022
The frost alarm phone call in the middle of the night will jolt you out of bed. It's not exactly unexpected because through-out spring we're watching forecasts very closely and know when they're likely. But the phone call isn't exactly welcome either because it h...
The why and how of pruning vines
August 11, 2022
A grapevine needs pruning for lots of reasons, to make the vine easy to look after and to reduce the crop load so the fruit can fully ripen.
Maintain vine form. Vines are originally forest dwelling climbers! That means left to their own devices they would sp...
Vintage 2022
March 24, 2022
We're just a few days into the start of harvesting vintage 2022. Our Pinot Gris and Chardonnay have been bought in and tomorrow we'll start on the Pinot Noir. It's always an exciting time in the vineyard - the end of a years work which started with pruning ...
A very special Rosé
September 13, 2021
Here in North Canterbury we're officially classed as a cool climate wine producer. This might come as a surprise to some - with many days in the mid-30s during summer. But it refers more to the length of the growing season. A slightly shorter growing season...
Our Chardonnay story
August 17, 2021
In 2014 we planted around 10,000 Chardonnay vines. They were interplanted between the Riesling vines (yes, the ones that look like twigs in the ground!) which were eventually removed. We planted them near the frost fans as they are an early ripening grape and nee...
Is Pinot Gris the perfect winter white?
July 20, 2021
Its chilly! And at this time of the year our (wine) thoughts naturally turn to red wines to accompany some of those hearty foods. But increasingly our diets are moving away from lots of red meat and towards fish, white meats and plant based foods. This mean...
2022 vintage starts here
June 17, 2021
The latest juice from the vineyard!
We’ve just finished harvesting our 2021 vintage, but that doesn’t mean it’s all quiet in the vineyard. In fact, we’re heading into one of our busiest times; there are over 120,000 vines to hand prune before budburst in spring, and Will, John, Matt and Buzz are hard a...