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The winery is on the estate and has been extended
in the last twelve months.
New technology includes a refrigeration room and
a sorting table. The latter is of critical importance in
ensuring the elimination of any unripe or diseased
fruit, and any leaves. As of the 2003 vintage, only the
best grapes will get through the winery door. Outlined
below is the wine making strategy:
1. Whites
After crushing, draining and
pressing most of the juice is fermented in oak barrels.
These are mainly made of French oak, although a few
American casks are used. Up to 40% of the barrels are
new. Ageing on the lees then takes place, with most of
the wines going through malolactic fermentation. The one
significant exception is the Unwooded Chardonnay. This
wine is fermented in stainless steel vats and does not
go through malolactic fermentation. Fining and
filtration precede bottling.
2. Reds
The black grapes are crushed and
de-stalked before undergoing fermentation. Pumping over
3 or 4 times a day is used on most of the reds to help
with the extraction of colour and tannin. However, a
couple rotary fermentation vats are used where a rapid
extraction of colour is desirable. The fermenting red
wines are drained off the skins after no more than eight
days. Malolactic fermentation takes place in tank,
followed by maturation. In the past this started in vat,
before transfer into old wood. As of the 2001 vintage,
more new oak barrels are being used for maturing the top
reds. Egg white fining and a light filtration precede
bottling.
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