Harvesting is done entirely by hand. This allows us to be scrupulous in our rejection of any unsuitable grapes and ensures that only the highest quality fruit is used to make our wine. Bunches are fully destemmed and berries fermented whole in small (3000 litre) fermenters using wild and innoculated yeasts. As part of our gentle approach, fruit is processed using gravity flow as far as possible. We use the traditional technique of pigeage à pied (stirring the must with legs and feet) and punch down by hand rather than using machines or pumps.
Different clones are treated separately throughout winemaking and elevagé to allow the assembly of a final blend that combines texture, structure and flavour.
Barrels
After some experimentation our choice of barrel is now Francois Frere Medium Toast. We find these have consistently produced the best wines across all clones.
Orchard Block Pinot Noir
The Orchard Block at Folding Hill is a small area of Clone 5 vines situated on the most southerly aspect of the vineyard. We have found that it consistently produces exceptional fruit and because of this we take a tonne of grapes and vinify them in a small fermenter entirely using wild yeasts. We mature the Orchard Block wine for 18 to 20 months prior to bottling unfiltered and unfined.
Filtering and fining
We do not filter or fine any of our wines as we believe both of these processes have potentailly detrimental effects.