Te Whare Ra Wines Single Vineyard 5182 Pinot Gris 2022

We are passionate about aromatic varieties and particularly those from Alsace so it was only a matter of time until we took on the challenge of Pinot Gris. When we first bought the property here, we replanted a section of the old block with the Berry-Smith clone (also known as Larkham clone) of Pinot Gris. We selected this particular clone especially for its low cropping, small bunches and small berries as we felt it would deliver the best quality fruit. Pinot Gris is the “sister” of Pinot Noir and shares many of its familial “issues”. It is quite crop sensitive and we feel that to get the best out of it you really have to go the extra mile in the vineyard. So like Pinot Noir it is all shoot-thinned, and bunch thinned and we often remove the bunch shoulders as well. This means that we can get it into the winery with lovely fruit purity as well as concentration.