Technical Data

Climate & Topography

Location, Climate & Topography
Region Central Otago, New Zealand Sub region: Bendigo
Climate Semi-continental Rainfall: Average of 300-450mm p.a.
Growing Season October – April Av Growing Degree Days – ~1150(2009/2015)
Vineyard size 57 hectares(140 acres) Planted area: 26 hectares(64 acres)
Latitude/longitude 44° 57’ 50.00’’ S 169°17’ 01.17” E (The tractor shed)
Altitude 210 -350 metres above sea level
Topography Moderate to steep slopes, gently undulating fans and remnant terraces comprising wind-eroded and water dissected minor ridges and associated areas of loess accumulations.
Soils Soils range from outcrops of schist to very fine dusty sands; from extremely hard red boulders to pockets of sticky red clay; and from river gravels to coarse sands – even a small pocket of rich loam. These soils are very complex as they are essentially a combination of glacial outwash and river gravels but generally fit under the classification of Clyde sandy loam.

Management

Vineyard Management
Farming methodology Sustainable (Member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand)
Water source Lake Dunstan – irrigation scheme pumps from the glacial-fed lake
Vines per hectare 2500 vines per hectare
Row spacing Spacing of 2.5 metres between rows; vines 1.6 metres apart
Trellis VSP trellis system (Vertical Shoot Positioning)
Foliage/fruiting wires A single fruiting wire is at a height of 1 m; 3 pairs of foliage wires
Pruning Vines are mainly spur pruned at 2 buds per spur (200mm intervals)
Cropping Pinot Noir yields are managed to a maximum of 5 T/ha and white varieties up to 7 T/ha
Weather station An on-line weather station on the vineyard records temperature, humidity, rain and wind www.harvestnz.com/w.cgi?hsn=3390. Tinytag Ultra Internal temperature loggers also record temperature ranges at different points on the vineyard
Water monitoring Aquaflex soil monitors provide information on soil moisture to manage the optimal irrigation to the vines

Planting

Varieties, Clones & Rootstocks
Variety Clone Area Variety Clone Area
2004 planting

(10 hectares)

Pinot Noir UCD5 5.0 ha Pinot Noir B667 1.25 ha
Pinot Noir B115 2.5 ha Pinot Noir B777 1.25 ha
2005 planting

(12 hectares)

Pinot Noir B777 1.3 ha Pinot Noir B667 1.0 ha
Pinot Noir UCD6 1.75 ha Pinot Noir Abel .5 ha
Riesling GM 239 .8 ha Gewürztraminer 456 1.0 ha
Pinot Gris Barrie 1.0 ha Pinot Gris GM 2-15 2.3 ha
Sauvignon Blanc MS 2.0 ha
2007 planting (4 hectares) Pinot Noir B114 1.3 ha Pinot Noir UCD4 .8 ha
Riesling GM 198-19 .7 ha Riesling GM 110 1.2 ha
Variety Mix 65% of the vineyard (or almost 17 hectares) is planted in Pinot Noir.
Rootstock All vines are planted on phylloxera-resistant American rootstock. These include: Riparia Gloire, 3309 GM9.2, 101.14 BDX and Schwarzmann PN.
Annual full production ~11,000 cases (132,000 bottles) inc. 7,000+ cases of Pinot Noir