Greystone Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir 2019

This wine started way back in 2012 when Dom Maxwell, our winemaker, first decided to experiment with an outside ferment in an attempt to ensure only the wild yeast of the vineyard itself were present for the fermentation. This began many experiments looking at the impact of the weather outside on the ferment, de-stemming the bunches in the vineyard and even setting concrete fermenting tanks into the vineyard rows.

At the 2017 Pinot Noir NZ conference Dom was asked to talk about this wine and from there people demanded to taste it. The first “Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir 2016” was released and sold out in just over 24 hours and is now one of our most sought after wines by Pinot lovers from around the world.

For 2019 Vintage, the Spring (2018) rain cooled the soil & gave our vines a slow start this season. Flowering wasn’t ideal, leading to small bunches and lots of leaf growth so needed extensive canopy work to ensure even ripening. Summer came through in the new year with a particularly dry & hot February, bringing us into harvest with pristine fruit that had great concentration, but very small volumes. Our Vineyard Ferment is made from Dijon clones 115, 667, and 777 on our north facing clay slopes. All organically managed and hand harvested.Hand picked and fermented outside in the vineyard rows where the fruit was grown. This is the first year we had a separate de-stemming machine, that lives in the vineyard so the fruit never left the rows. We allow the fruit to start fermentation in its own time and respond to the rhythm of the season. Therefore the fermentation are driven not only by indigenous vineyard yeast but also the ambient temperatures. So we are extended the vintage influence on the wine itself. We gently hand plunge the vats once per day and then allow a short maceration post-ferment for balance and harmony. The young wine is then aged for 15 months in old oak barrels before being estate bottled, unfined and unfiltered.