VINO COTTO | WOOLSHED CREEK WHITE | WOOLSHED CREEK RED | RIESLING | PINOT GRIS | CHARDONNAY | ROSE | PINOT NOIR | DINNY'S BLOCK | MERLOT | GRACIANO | SHIRAZ | TEMPRANILLO
Pinot Gris shares with Riesling the 'Pines' block of our vineyard, immediately adjacent to Majura Pines, a plantation belonging to ACT Forests. The block was planted in 2000, with the first vintage of Pinot Gris being 2003.
With a south-easterly aspect, and protected by the hill to the west, it is the coolest and most-sheltered part of the vineyard, and was selected to protect the these white varieties from hot afternoon sun and drying winds, as these can reduce quality during ripening.
While the soil in the Riesling changes, Pinot Gris is mostly on the red soil that is typical of the rest of the vineyard. A rocky patch at the top has also been subject to damage by wallabies ever since planting, and produces less than the lower parts of the block.
Our Pinot Gris clone is quite obscure, and appears to have originated as a rogue vine among riesling at Langi Ghiran, which in turn probably came from old plantings at Best's Great Western. The clone develops wonderful musky flavours, but only when the fruit is quite ripe, so our Pinot Gris is often harvested considerably later than, for example, Pinot Noir.