Vines
Bannockburn, Central Otago.
Our summer days are long, hot, and tinder dry. In autumn the nights are cold. In winter they are bitter. The soils of Bannockburn are unforgiving. Windblown. Stony. The first grapes were planted here in the 1860s by a French goldminer. The land has never made it easy. Our vineyards are named Swansong, Black Rabbit, and Inlet. Swansong is steep — the vines clawing their way along terraces of eroded gravel and clay. Black Rabbit sits on ancient bedrock, vines nestled into windblown soil. Inlet’s vines drape over a terrace of deep river gravel. We coax the best out of these reluctant soils by striving for balance. We grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.
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The Inlet Vineyard is situated on a river terrace above the Bannockburn Inlet. Planted 2002. The soils are loess ranging from 200—600mm on top of deep clay gravels, around 160,000 years old. On an elevation of 225—245m. 5.25 ha.
Planted varities:
Pinot Noir
Chenin Blanc
Gamay
Chardonnay
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The basement geology of Black Rabbit is 400 million years old. The site is a steep North-facing slope with younger windblown schist loess over ancient bedrock schist. The vineyard was planted in 2002. On an elevation of 250 –315m.
3.5 ha.
Planted varities:
Pinot Noir
Riesling
Chardonnay
Syrah
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Alluvial outwash from Long Gully and Target Gully flowed over the top of glacial moraine from the tail of the Gibbston glacier. The site is North-facing slope. The vineyard contains vines planted in 1994 and 2002 with more recent plantings in 2018.
On an elevation of 226 - 234m
3.5 ha.
Planted varieties:
Pinot Noir
Pinot Gris
