Sometimes you get very special grapes which make very special wines. And sometimes, just sometimes, you do’t tell anybody that youve got these special grapes and that youre going to make a very special wine.

This was one of those sometimes.

This Pinot Noir was grown on the beautiful Ballochdale Estate, high up in the Awatere Valley. Positioned on terraces formed by glacial action in the last ice age, this picturesque vineyard is carefully managed to provide low-yield, high quality crop.

The fruit was 100% hand harvested, fermented with indigenous yeast and gently hand plunged to extract the deep purple colour and delightful fruit characters. Post fermentation, the wine was press off into French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and barrel ageing.

The resultant wine exhibits wonderfully intense dark berry flavours seamlessly balanced with soft, velvety tannins.