Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Gris 2017

A very interesting season - overall we ended up with about an average amount of heat even though the season had a distinctly cool bent to it. A very warm wet spring kicked off the growing season in style with very early bud- burst. Just as we were entering into flowering the weather deteriorated with very cool weather being the norm right through late December. This impacted on flowering with bad crop set.

The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they are managed by our viticultural team and must be sourced from Bannockburn vineyards - the south side of the Kawarau River in the southern Cromwell basin. Each has a specific terroir, largely influenced by climate, and offers a variety of soil types from open gravels to heavier clays.

Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Gris is blended from seven of our Bannockburn vineyards: Templars Hill, Long Gully, Ferris, and Pipeclay Terrace. Templars Hill, Pipeclay Terrace and Swansong have a combination of heavy Scotland Point clay soils alternating with the drought prone coarse gravel Bannockburn soils. Long Gully consists of Lochar soils, which are well-drained, high pH soils ideally suited to viticulture. Ferris is the result of dune formation from parent material blown across the river from the Cromwell flats. They are very low in both fertility and water holding capacity.

The fruit was hand harvested in top condition from the 10th – 20th April. The fruit was processed in a reductive manner, with the juice settled for a week prior to being racked clean. The wine was fermented with indigenous yeast, the wines were fermented cool to help maximise varietal character. All the components were left on gross yeast lees for four months post fermentation with weekly stirring to help enhance the complexity and textural aspects of the wine. Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Gris 2017 was bottled in September. Winery Notes