The fruit for the MWC Pinot Gris was sourced from the hills of the cool climate Strathbogie Ranges and the Victorian side of the Murray River. The Strathbogie Ranges has warm sunny days and cool evening temperatures which are perfect for the growing of good quality Pinot Gris. The Northern Victoria fruit experiences warmer days and nights causing riper characteristics to develop in the grape and the blending of the different growing areas adds interesting and complex layers to the wine. The grapes were harvested during the cool of the night to maintain fruit freshness and gently pressed to minimise phenolic characters. The wine was fermented in various parcels, with a small portion receiving careful oak treatment, with extended lees contact to build structure yet retain good fruit balance. As Pinot gris is naturally a red wine grape, we have allowed the wine to retain its natural colour during the winemaking process, resulting in a fuller bodied wine with a lovely aromatic profile.

The best way to describe vintage 2016 is fast & furious! There was no orderly ripening of fruit, no luxury of white fruit followed by red fruit, it was like the flood gates opened and the grapes just rolled in to our winery on masse. We had little rain and a very hot spring leading up to harvest, which meant grapes ripened faster than normal. Optimum flavours and ripeness came on more quickly than previous years and the only way around it was to pick as fast as we could. Thankfully we worked our way through it, and the resulting quality is excellent.