CARRICK

Central Otago wines are fast gaining an international reputation for their quality and finesse. Our label - Carrick - is truly a label for the region: the wines demonstrate the grace, the taste, the distinctive style of Central Otago. Our winery looks directly out to the rugged Carrick mountain range in the west, a stunning place.

Cairnmuir was planted in 1994 in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris. It lies on a promontory, bounded by Lake Dunstan to the north and west, and the Bannockburn Inlet to the south. The vineyard is a mixture of gravels and sand, glistening with silica.

Carrick, a name associated with the Bannockburn region, is represented on our label by the Carrick Bend knot. The knot also depicts the bringing together of the Central Otago terroir, and our careful viticultural and winemaking practices.

Carrick is now fully organic. The grapes are grown organically and the wines are made organically. After a minimum of a three-year period where the vineyards have been farmed organically and the winemaking practices meet NZ organic standards, Carrick has been audited by an independent auditing authority, Biogrow NZ, and has been successful in meeting the rigorous standards for organic grape and wine production.

Francis Hutt

People ask about my winemaking philosophy, a question I find always falls short of what truly motivates me to give 100% at Carrick. Carrick has been about the vineyard and a sustainable lifestyle from the beginning. We understand the concept of a sorting table but have no use for one, as first and foremost we seek quality fruit from healthy vines. This is our daily focus and what led us to organic and biodynamic farming, eventually certifying with BioGro NZ in 2008. It is all that cover-cropping, seaweed, preparation 500 and solid hard work in the vineyard that equates to my “winemaking” being an exercise in understanding site expression, rather than fixing problems with chemical additives. It is only natural that we have used minimal sulphur, natural yeast, no fining and no filtration techniques in our winemaking for the past ten years. Most of all it is the idea that the “land is left in a better state from which we started, when we leave” that motivates me. A philosophy that was put in place by Barbara and Steve Green who planted the vineyard in 1993.