LAUREGAN

Lauregan is a very small Pinot Noir vineyard in the hills at the northern end of Central Hawke’s Bay. It belongs to Mike and Hazel, who tends the vines and makes the wine with an attention to detail that would be impossible on a much larger property.

The vineyard sits on a northwest-facing slope near the bottom of a narrow valley. Its altitude and hilly terrain make it significantly cooler than the Heretaunga Plains. Spring can be difficult, with severe frosts regularly threatening the young growth, but summer brings warm days in the shelter of the valley and cool nights. Pinot Noir rather likes that combination.

The site was never going to be easy to work. The rows are narrow and run across the face of the hill, with much of the vineyard formed into terraces that were dug by hand. Nearly everything is still done manually. The exceptions are mowing and spraying, for which Mike built his own machine to handle the steep and unusual terrain.

Every vine receives an extraordinary amount of individual attention. From removing excess buds at the beginning of spring to cutting away any fruit that does not meet the grade as harvest approaches, Mike estimates that each plant is visited at least a dozen times during the season.

The aim is to keep the canopy open and healthy and to ask the vines for very little fruit.

Lauregan follows a strict rule of one bunch per shoot, with the excess removed soon after the fruit has formed. In some years, the yield has been less than 500 grams from each vine. The vineyard is not irrigated, and any bunch showing a defect or ripening more slowly than the rest is discarded.

There is no production target to meet. Mike makes only what the vineyard can produce at the standard he wants, and no fruit is brought in from elsewhere to make up the numbers. Every bottle of Lauregan is grown and made from this one small hillside vineyard.

The resulting yields are closer to those found in the tiny Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy than in most New Zealand vineyards. The comparison is not made to suggest that Central Hawke’s Bay is Burgundy, but there is something shared in the thinking: a small piece of land, low yields and the belief that the quality of Pinot Noir begins with the care given to each individual vine.

Lauregan is not made in large quantities, nor is it intended to be. It is the work of one man, one vineyard and a great many hours spent among the vines.

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