This year’s blend is 98% Sauvignon Blanc with 2% Pinot Gris, sourced from three certified organic vineyards. The primary source is the Weaver family’s Churton Vineyard in Marlborough, supplemented by the Porters (Bellbird) and Good Family Vineyard in North Canterbury.

Two-thirds of the fruit was fermented in tank, with 15% in concrete tulips and 17% in old barrels. Some 2% was fermented on skins. Skin fermentation and partial malolactic conversion were used to naturally balance the Sauvignon’s acidity while celebrating its innate freshness and vibrancy. It’s a cracking release: textural and racy with savoury meadow herbs woven throughout and a lovely dry, saline finish.

100% Pinot Noir from the Waipara Springs vineyard in Waipara, North Canterbury, which is sustainably farmed with no artificial chemicals or fertilisers. Old-vine 10/5 Clone Pinot Noir was planted in the early 1990s, and the site is managed by Pyramid Valley. The fruit was picked on 11th April. The grapes were pressed as whole bunches before fermenting with indigenous yeasts in a combination of concrete tulips and old puncheons. The wine aged on its ferment lees without sulphur for six months before blending in November. The notes below do not oversell this outstanding wine—we haven’t tasted a more exciting rosé from New Zealand. Structured and vinous it may be, yet it is also seriously addictive. 

This year’s blend comprises 78% Pinot Gris, 14% Sauvignon Blanc, 7% Pinot Noir, 1% Gewürztraminer and just under 1% Muscat. The wine brings together three vineyards that are sustainably farmed, free of artificial chemicals or fertilisers: BioGro-certified Porters (Bellbird) vineyard on Mackenzies Road; Pyramid Valley Waikari Estate in North Canterbury; and a tiny amount of Sauvignon Blanc from Churton Vineyard in Marlborough.

The fruit was primarily vinified as whole bunches for 12 to 24 days in open-top fermenters, with a small amount of Blanc de Noir pressings added during fermentation. The wines were aged in clay amphora and old barrels for six months without adding sulphur. “We wanted to make an Orange that’s balanced between the tannins and fruit weight,” Kinch told us. “So finer, lighter tannins, something that matches our cooler climate.”

Max Allen commented on this wine’s premier release, “Oh if only all orange wines were as downright delicious and as beautiful as this.” It has only kicked on since then. We love the burst of Christmas spices, orange rind, and soft fine tannins that coat the mouth, leaving a savoury and moreish finish. Boom.

Our first allocation of this limited single-vineyard release, which sits alongside the Springs Chardonnay and Korimako Pinot Noir. The fruit is harvested by hand from Sam and Mandy Weaver’s certified organic, biodynamically farmed Churton vineyard. It sits on a hillside 200 metres above sea level between the Waihopai and Omaka Valleys. Pyramid Valley selected a parcel from the northeast-facing slope on loess above a clay subsoil.

The grapes were picked on 30th March and sorted and pressed as whole bunches into a wooden egg. The wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and left on lees for 12 months. It was bottled without fining or filtration. Huw Kinch explains they chose this vineyard for the Sauvignon as it shows the heights to which Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc can reach. The palate sings with the lovely intensity of ripe fruit, with beautiful textures sculpted by mouth-watering energy and chalky drive. Expect the unexpected. It should age gracefully over the next five to 10 years.

The wine comes from two vineyards: old-vine Mendoza Chardonnay grown on the Omihi clay soils of Waipara Springs, planted between 1982 and 1986, and Clone 5 and Mendoza Chardonnay grown on Three Sisters Vineyard on Mackenzies Road in Waipara, planted between 2001 and 2002 on Rangitata gravels.

Harvested by hand between 12th and 23rd March. The must fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in 20% new French oak barrels for 12 months before settling in stainless steel on light lees for another four months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. It opens with an alluringly reductive and toasty mineral nose before unfurling on the palate in ripe stone fruits, hazelnut and grilled almonds supported by a complex, mouth-filling structure and classic North Canterbury salinity. Burgundy drinkers will feel right at home.

This wine brings together three vineyards in North Canterbury: Three Sisters on Mackenzies Road in Waipara, planted on Rangitata gravels; the Porters family vineyard on Mackenzies Road in Waipara, planted in 2004 on Domett Clay soils on an east-facing slope; and the Springs vineyard planted in the early 1980s on Omihi clay soils.

The grapes were picked by hand and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top fermenters, with 20% whole bunches included. The wine aged in French oak barrels (20% new) for 12 months before settling in stainless steel on light lees for a further six months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, the wine opens with a layered aroma of red plum pit and pretty, lifted floral, spice and dried herb notes. The palate is deep and silky, flecked with ripe plums, liquorice, and more dried-herb flavours perfectly framed by graceful, plush tannins. The finish has a lovely structure, which tapers to a long, savoury and moreish finish.

Pyramid Valley opened a new chapter of its story in 2018 when it purchased Jean and Roger Gibson’s highly regarded Lowburn Ferry vineyard in Central Otago’s Lowburn sub-region. Already winning national awards by 2003, the site was planted in 2000 on a gentle, north-facing slope with 30% own-rooted vines and a mix of clones—some of the oldest Pinot vines in Otago. A supplement of higher-density Pinot Noir was planted on a lower terrace in 2018 by Pyramid Valley’s biodynamic specialist, Nick Paulin, who lives on and manages the property.

Now renamed Manata, paying homage to a romantic Māori legend of this region, soils are predominantly loess over deep silts that have developed pedogenic lime deposits. 2021 was the final year of organic conversion; as of 2022, the site has been certified organic by BioGro NZ. There are two wines made from this vineyard. The Manata Pinot is a selection of blocks, while a single-parcel Pinot Noir called Snake Tongue now forms part of the Botanical Selection.

The grapes were hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top concrete and oak fermenters, with 15% whole bunches included. The wine aged in French oak barrels (25% new) for 12 months before settling in concrete and wooden cuves on light lees for a further six months. All parties involved are clearly besotted by this “special” vineyard whose wine manifests the dark berry plushness and energy of Central Otago, allied to silky structure and impressive ageing potential.