Viticultural Balance of Foggy Hill Vineyard

The joy of discovering a new "terroir" is observing the site define itself in sometimes surprising ways.

Despite 950mm of annual rainfall and the cool, moderate temperatures and high humidity, the wind and the low to moderate fertility soils at Foggy Hill Vineyard conspire to establish low to medium viticultural capacity.

Therefore the vineyard can only properly mature the shoots and grapes of 67,000 buds/hectare versus 90,000 shoots/hectare at Piccadilly. 67,000 buds/hectare equates to 15 buds/vine spaced ideally at 10 shoots/metre. Each shoot carries small bunches of Pinot Noir grapes weighing about 80 grams total giving1.2 kilos/vine or the very modest yield of 5.3 tonnes/hectare. This naturally small crop balance is ideal for Pinot Noir to get the best expression of varietal character with significant wine texture and colour density.

A truly significant feature of the Foggy Hill site is the warm ocean influenced nights. This, combined with the warm north slope and the heat retaining ironstone rocks, keeps the night temperature of the maturing grapes on the little low vines at an ideal temperature so that they can continue to turn sugar produced in the sunlight of day into colour and flavour at night as well as during the day. The consequence of warm night conversion of sugar is earlier development of flavour and colour maturity at lower sugars and hence lower alcohol potential in the wine.

Purchased as a site for the finest ‘sea air, grass fed" lambs, Maylands Farm has the potential to produce delicate and ethereal Pinot Noirs of substantial mouth-feel and colour at moderate alcohol levels from its Foggy Hill Vineyard.

Tapanappa is dedicated to exploring the potential of the very exciting Foggy Hill Pinot Noir terroir.