The Art Of Our Wine Making

Varieties and Soil

Planted at an elevation of 650 metres above sea level and on granitic soils, we have the perfect combination for a natural vintage which displays varietal characteristics in all our wines. Varieties currently harvested include cool climate Riesling, Chardonnay and Merlot.  Other varieties showing future potential include Marsanne, Pinot Meunier, Muscat and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Harvesting, Crushing, and Processing

All our grapes are hand picked and never machine harvested. This means that we take the greatest care in selecting quality grapes to produce our wines. The fruit is destemmed and crushed at 2°C through a stainless steel basket press. The free run juice is captured and kept under CO2 and cold settled overnight at 2°C. The remaining juice and grape skins are maintained under constant pressure to sustain skin contact, than cold settled to remove solids. After, it is raked and blended back to the free run juice to be prepared for fermentation.

Fermentation

Fermentation for our Chardonnay and Riesling is carried out with a high glycerol, low sulphide yeast. Everything is monitored to control an even ferment at 12 -15°C. The pH is normally around 3.01 to ensure crisp flavours are maintained. The process is very similar for our Merlot with the exception that the juice is pumped over and plunged 3-4 times a day until fermentation progresses.

Maturing and Aging

Maturing and aging is carried out at 12 – 18°C with around 40% humidity in our cellars. Under these conditions our wines develop very well, showing excellent bottle ageing characteristics. We age our wines in two different ways:

• Our un-oaked Chardonnay and Riesling are placed directly in bottles with minimal additives to display their varietal characteristics as much as possible.

• Our oaked varieties are placed in French or American oak barrels for maturation.