MAORI POINT VINEYARDTM
MAORI POINT VINEYARDTM
Maori Point was given its name in reference to the group of Maori goldminers who, in the 1860's, sluiced the east bank of the Clutha river near Tarras.
Our vineyard is a 28 hectare block running from Maori Point Rd to the riverbank, bounded along the south border by "The Pines" planted by the Dunedin pharmacist, Bill Clifford. It is ringed by mountains, the Pisa range to the west, Hawea and Lindis ranges to the north, St Bathans and the Dunstans to the east and south. The soils are built up in layers of sand, gravel and river silt over glacial deposits of large stones, with superimposed windblown ridges with deep sandy loam on one side and large rocks along their peaks. The detailed soil map which we commissioned looks like a technicolour tiger skin. 'Free-draining sterile medium' best describes its character.
The land was pictured in a brochure from a Wanaka estate agent who responded to our request to see it by telling us it was a dry dusty rabbit-ridden block and if we were to visit it we risked falling down one of the massive rabbit holes and never reappearing.
Our first harvest of pinot noir and pinot gris grapes was in autumn, 2006. The Pinot Gris was bottled in September, but the Pinot Noir remained in French oak barrels until it was bottled in March 2007 for release in November 2007. Some of the juice from the Pinot Noir was left with the skins for 24h and then taken to make Pinot Noir Rosé. This sold out quickly, encouraging us to increase production. In 2008 we set aside 6 tonnes of premium pinot noir grapes for Rosé, producing 500 cases.
John Harris and Marilyn Duxson, 413 Maori Point Road, Tarras Ph 03 428 8842 or Cell 027 243 2725