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The clone 15 Chardonnay from our Om Santi Vineyard was picked today – a glorious sunny Easter Sunday in Martinborough. The fruit is looking good, the winery a hive of activity and a buzz in the air. Alex (our German intern) has been the first to get the forklift stuck but luckily for him everyone still has their sense of humour intact!
The team is starting to assemble, picking bins being cleaned & the winery being prepared for the up-coming vintage. We are anticipating picking within the next week which as everyone knows is a little later than normal due to the cooler season. Pippa from Scotland has started today & Alex from Germany is now also in the winery after serving his first few weeks apprenticeship in the vineyard. The rest of our winery crew will be on board next week when hopefully we will be into the 2012 harvest.
This wine is the younger sibling of the Air New Zealand awards 2011 Champion Pinot noir & Best Commercial Red, the 2010 Pencarrow Pinot noir & is a very similar wine however slightly more supple. For detailed tasting notes refer http://www.palliser.co.nz/wine/pencarrow-2011-pinot-noir/
All Richard’s determined & focused training paid off yesterday, completing the 10km Martinborough Around the Vines walk. He was still smiling at the finishing line (unfortunately though my photography skills failed to capture the moment) which was a good indication that he meet his target time. Not at work yet though so not sure sure that is such a good sign!
Check out Raymond’s latest review of Palliser, titled Skill Managing Diversity. The introduction is as follows: “It’s a sign of ability and confidence when a winery can produce a variety of styles equally successfully. This applies to Palliser Estate n Martinborough for sure, making top class sparkling wine (surely one of the more technically involved of wines!), aromatics, oak-aged whites, accessible and long-term reds as well as superior sweet wines. The stable structure of the company, relentlessly driven leadership and very capable personnel maximise the quality from the resource of well-established vineyards”
For the reviews of the four wines he tasted refer http://www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz/features/palliser-estate-skill-managing-diversity
