Each of the Estate’s 35 parcels of vines are picked, pressed and fermented separately. The first moment the individual wines meet are during blending trials in late winter. 2023’s very generous harvest resulted in 49 different tanks of wine, each one tasted regularly for months to build up a profile of their unique flavour, aroma, acidity, tannin and texture. Some blends are greater than the sum of their parts. For example, the Pinot Gris’ aroma of lemon Turkish delight will be noted as a potential blend to compliment the Pinot Blanc’s ripe stone fruit flavours. With the addition of Ortega, famed for it’s subtle spice and juicy peach flavours, we’re almost there with the creation of our Signature wine.
Olly and his team require skill, patience, an excellent palate and a superhuman ability to be both objective and subjective. Blending considerations include wine style, current trends within the market and forward-thinking.
First ‘draft blends’ are created, then revisited and tweaked to ensure that each element added brings something to the party. At this stage, the process becomes a collaborative effort and other members of the team participate in trials to ensure wines are stylistically ‘New Hall’. We can't wait to get them into bottle.
And on the grapevine
A big shout out to our Andy and his vineyard heroes as they continue to gallantly battle on through heavy rain and mud, extreme winds and even snow this year, as pruning continues.
We expect another 4 weeks of pruning before we can hang up the electric snips for another year.
The ‘annual haircut’ involves removing last years canes and selecting new ones to support this years harvest.
Each vine is visually assessed individually to build up a picture of vine vigour and health – within a few seconds of approaching a vine, each operative must swiftly visually assess it’s size, condition, trunk, cane length before pruning accordingly.
This is a hugely skilled task; our team guys must think beyond a single season and ensure the vines’ longevity, fruitfulness and vitality for the next 30 years plus.
