Amisfield Wine Company's vines are beginning to show their heritage and, with the 10th harvest under way, the future is looking bright for the Arrowtown-based business.
The first pinot noir grapes were picked at the company's vineyard, between Cromwell and Wanaka, on March 29 and celebrations included a rare opportunity for vertical tasting of nine vintages of the Amisfield pinot noir, including its first.
Amisfield's first vines were planted in 1999, at Pisa, near Lake Dunstan, fulfilling the owners' vision of selecting an appropriate site and growing quality pinot noir that was a reflection of the Central Otago region.
Vineyard manager Andre Lategan considered the quality had improved every year and Amisfield had consistently adhered to its sustainable practices, using minimal handling and manual labour in the vineyard.
"More than half the plantings have been made under my watch and we are very lucky because there are not many sites in the world that have this sort of climate with its extremes of heat and cold, which can produce such top pinot noirs, as well as excellent sauvignon blanc, pinot gris and riesling wines.
"In particular, we now have a valuable 10 years of pinot noir growing."
Of the 2012 harvest, Mr Lategan said it looked "fabulous".
"I think it's going to be a light year [in terms of grapes] but a good year."
The company's first pinot noir and pinot gris wines were released in 2002. At the time, founding winemaker Jeff Sinnott claimed it was a milestone underlining Amisfield's focus on natural winemaking processes.
Ten years on, Mr Sinnott maintained the Amisfield Wine Company had been instrumental in the development of the Central Otago wine industry.
"We produced some great wines during my tenure there ... We celebrated success with the wines we created, the vineyard we ran and the buildings we designed and operated.
"I believe the brand occupies a well-earned position in the market, one in which Amisfield can be justifiably satisfied."
The business' state-of-the-art production facility at its Pisa vineyard site was commissioned in 2006 and the 600-tonne capacity winery, which centres on a cuverie for pinot noir production, was an innovative and practical complex, designed to enhance the company's "grown, not made" philosophy.
Winemaker Stephanie Lambert said the winery had a "great flow" so grapes were gently handled at all stages.
Its capability was tested in 2008 when a record crop came off the vines, resulting in the Amisfield Pinot Noir 2008, which received wide recognition.
Since the first harvest in 2002 it had been possible to trace the evolution of Amisfield's still very young vines, Dr Lambert said.
"Our wines are now showing their heritage and we are excited by this because, albeit small, there is now some history in both our vines and wines and we can look forward to building on this.
"We have continued to plant more pinot noir with new blocks of the interesting 'able clone' planted.
"We have also planted chardonnay on the terraces above our winery and so in about three years we will have this wine available at our cellar door and bistro."
