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Pyramid Valley UK Relaunch
03 November 2020Last night we hosted the UK relaunch of Pyramid Valley Vineyards with Steve Smith MW who joined us from New Zealand. The event was a chance for a first look at Pyramid Valley's new Appellation Series.
Steve gave a short history of the winery before he and Brian Sheth, a tech entrepreneur turned environmental philanthropist, bought it in 2017. They had been looking for a site for two years and settled on Pyramid Valley due to the true combination of limestone and clay in the soil as well as being a genuinely cool site; it is cooler than Burgundy. Described as ‘bristling sunshine’, Steve discussed how Pyramid Valley is an unusual site that does not carry a deep warmth from the sun but retains its coolness.
The winery was also an interesting proposition. The founders Mike and Claudia Weersing had farmed biodynamically for 20 years and the farmer before also practiced sustainable agriculture so there has never been an inoculated yeast in the winery; all wines are fermented naturally and this adds another dimension to the wines.
Brian and Steve also purchased the Lowburn Ferry property in 2017 and this has always been cultivated sensitively so the soil is quite unique. The vines here are in their late teens/early twenties and are also undergoing biodynamic conversion and while winemaking for 2018 was in Central Otago, winemaking from 2019 is in North Canterbury so Steve was hesitant to associate any changes in the wines to a single factor; simply there are too many variables.
After discussing the two estates, Steve went through and tasted the five wines in their Appellation Series that are available in the UK. North Canterbury Sauvignon Blanc Plus 2019, North Canterbury Chardonnay 2018, North Canterbury Orange 2019, North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2018 and Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018.
These wines are created following a similar approach that the Weersing’s had taken for 20 years. There is no philosophical change, only investment in the winery with a new press and temperature-controlled tanks, among the changes. Pyramid Valley is still farmed biodynamically, and the Appellation Series also uses grapes from growers who are undergoing conversion or farming organically to complement their grapes and winemaking follows the Weersing's philosophy of low sulphur and natural yeasts.
North Canterbury Sauvignon Plus 2019
This is the first Sauvignon from Pyramid Valley and is from organic and conversion parcels from North Canterbury. It has been named Sauvignon plus because there is a small amount (3-6% each) of Riesling and Pinot Gris. Two thirds of the wine was fermented in tank with the remaining third split between old oak barrels and on skins in amphora. This is the only wine that is filtered in the range. Steve does not expect much vintage variation for this wine because of the site as long as the canopy is manged well because the sun exposure could affect the grapes dramatically.
North Canterbury Chardonnay 2018
This is a real collaboration between Mike Weersing, Steve Smith and Huw Kinch, Pyramid Valley’s Estate Manager and Winemaker. In 2018 there was a small production of this wine with only 400 cases produced. Made mainly in old French oak with a little skin contact, this was fermented in barrel with wild yeasts. Interestingly four days after harvest it snowed and so the cellar had to be warmed to ensure the right temperature for fermentation. The wine stayed in barrel until just after the following 2019 harvest before bottling without filtration.
Pyramid Valley’s 2019 Orange is a blend of Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Muscat. Steve Smith has previously been critical of the natural wine movement so he had two rules for Huw to follow for this wine – it cannot be faulty and it must be delicious and Huw took this on. Steve commented this wine shows that natural wine has no reason to show faults and this wine proves it. It has notes of cinnamon, ginger, apricot and orange without these coming from botrytis.
North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2018
This is the first pinot noir from Pyramid Valley that is not from the home block. Steve thanked the North Canterbury community for welcoming them in and sharing some of their wonderful parcels. This wine is made from three parcels, the majority from one vineyard that is very gravelly and two smaller parcels. Winemaking is in wooden cuves and some of the wine was aged in these as well. There was some very light punching down, but this was to control the temperature rather than for extraction. This wine is designed to show the beauty of pinot noir rather than the density. When asked about ageing Steve admitted this is the first time this wine has been made so while there should be no risk for 5-10 years and he believes it will age gracefully, he cannot prove it beyond intuition.
This vintage was fermented in Central Otago under Pyramid Valley’s watchful eye while future vintages will be made in North Canterbury. Similarly, to their North Canterbury Pinot Noir, this was made with minimal punch downs to allow the character of the site shine without extraction. The soil at this site is naturally high, around 8pH and also contains lime calcium granules. It is darker in comparison to the previous wine due to the high UV light. This was limited by canopy management and ensuring the grapes were not in direct sunlight.