Bald Hills, Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand, highly awarded makers of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, cool-climate Riesling and Rosé wines.

Boutique winery Bald Hills of Central Otago, maker of Champion Pinot Noir

Vineyard Description > Management > Winemaking

Grant Rolston is proud of his achievements with Bald Hills Pinot Noir Bald Hills Estate of Bannockburn, Central Otago is of an unusual triangular shape of 11 hectares. Bordered by the Cairnmuir hills and the Kawarau River it has inspiring views to the Pisa Range, the flat-topped terraces above Lowburn and along the Clutha River Valley towards Hawea and Wanaka. A charming homestead, surrounded by gardens, includes a small tasting room where visitors enjoy the aromas and flavours of the single-vineyard wines the Bald Hills owners are so proud of.

Desert-like hot days, cold nights and long autumns allow for the slow ripening of the fruit. The pinot noir grape, so fickle, so difficult in all but the most desirable of positions, loves Bannockburn, one of the few places in the world which can grow this notorious variety. The first plantings commenced in the Spring of 1997 after minimal disturbance of the soil structure and under the management of well-known viticulturist Robin Dicey in those all-important formative years.

Managed now by viticulturist Grant Rolston (pictured) and his small team of dedicated people, Bald Hills comprises a total of 7 and a half planted hectares – pinot noir, pinot gris, and riesling. Almost all the work is done by hand: pruning, bunch and shoot thinning, picking. Great care is taken to adhere to the practices of sustainable winegrowing. Bald Hills is a Certified Sustainable Vineyard.

Bald Hills is proud of its continued association with its viticulturist, Grant Rolston and his company, Vinewise Viticulture. For more information about Vinewise' services and approach to viticulture, please see their website:www.vinewise.co.nz

First plantings commenced in Spring of 1997. Pinot noir clones comprise mainly 5, 6, 10/5 and B115. The B115 is grafted on a suitable rootstock while the other three clones are all planted on their own roots. At the time of writing most of the pinot noir is approaching ten years of age and the bulk of the pinot gris and riesling, having been planted a year later, approaches nine. Pinot gris and riesling occupy approximately 1 hectare each, and the pinot noir covers almost 5 and 1/2 hectares. New plantings of Clone Abel will add to the complexity of the Pinot Noir in due course. These plantings were added in 2007 and 2008. Vineyard Systems • Plants per hectare, 2500 • Initial row spacing 2.5, current spacing 2.3, plant spacing 1.33 • Fruiting wire 1m • Both cane and spur pruning Vine Management • Training to VSP
		Tony Lingard and Oksana Rolston

• Shoot and bunch thinning to bring crop to desired level. The ability of the vines to ripen the fruit for that season is assessed depending on climate conditions
• Soil moisture determined professionally using deep probe. Each individual plant irrigated by dripper according to need
• Fertilizer applied through dripper system after soil and leaf analysis
• Frost fighting via two automatic wind machines, temperature set to a little above 0 degrees. Precise temperature determined by stage of development of the vine
• Leaf plucking by hand to assist ripening, allowing sun and air to penetrate further into the canopy

Canopy Management
• Three levels of canopy containment wires
• Canopy trimmed as required

Harvest
• All harvesting of the crop is done by hand. Yield rarely exceeds 5 tonnes per hectare
• Meticulous selection by experienced pickers of fully ripe fruit
• Further sorting on site to eliminate any unripe fruit, leaves, and stalks upon emptying picking crates into larger bins for transport to the winery