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Award winning pinot noir and chardonnay wines from Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand ...About Us
Grapes have been grown on the Dunstan Flats for 130 years and Davishon is only a short distance from Monte Christo, where Jean Feraud produced the first Central Otago wines in the 1860's. The first vineyard plantings at Davishon were the main block in 1992, with the next two blocks being planted 1996. After experimenting with 10/5, 2/10, and clone 13 & 5 pinot noir clones, the new blocks have been planted with Davis 5 (Pommard) and Dijon clone 115. These are starting to produce exciting results. The 3.5 hectare vineyard is now 70% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Gris and the remainder Chardonnay.
Our vines are protected from unwelcome frost damage, using overhead sprinklers. Our Philosophy is to continue producing premium quality wines. As a small producer we are able to give the extra tender loving care to our vines, to enable us to produce consistent high quality wines. ALEXANDRA , one of the sub-regions of Central Otago, is situated at the confluence of the Clutha and Manuherikia rivers at the southern end of the Manuherikia Valley and has a reputation for recording the hottest driest summers and coldest winters in New Zealand. The cold winters and hot summers, along with the extreme temperature change between night and day, with ideal soils full of heat reflecting mica schist, helps bring out the best in the wines from the most southern wine-growing region in the world. CENTRAL OTAGO is New Zealand's and the world's most southerly wine region. It is New Zealand's only true continental climate with greater extremes of daily and seasonal temperatures than anywhere else in New Zealand. Central Otago is now New Zealand's fourth largest wine region. Pinot Noir is the dominant grape variety. Soil structures also vary dramatically from those of other regions with heavy deposits of mica and schists in silt loams. The wines of Central Otago have a purity, intensity and vibrancy that seems totally appropriate to anyone who has visited this outstanding region and breathed the pure mountain air. "Central Otago has almost too much going for it: Great scenery, great lifestyle and now almost freakishly good, if not (yet) great, Pinot Noir."
OUR LABEL
The most spectacular landscape feature in the area, are the numerous rock tars –
Lord of the Rings movies have been filmed throughout the district, using our dramatic landscapes. OUR WINEMAKER - Carol Bunn
Eighteen months (1996/1997) at Dry River in Martinborough and then at Martinborough Vineyard, working with Nick Hoskins and Larry McKenna, fuelled an abiding interest in Pinot Noir. This interest was further developed with vintages in Oregon in 1997 and 2000. Appointed to her first sole winemaker position, in 1998, at Langdale Wine Estate in Canterbury, Carol made a range of wines from aromatic whites (Briedecker, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc) and Chardonnay and a range of reds including Pinot Noir, Petit Syrah and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Franc/Merlot blend. Carol was appointed winemaker at Akarua Winery in Central Otago in 2001. Over her four vintages at Akarua, she consistently produced award-winning wines. In 2004, Carol joined Vinpro Ltd to take the helm of the new winery division. Carol's philosophy is "to work in closely with her clients, and their unique terroir, to produce for each the best wine we can in the year we're given". Carol takes a minimalist approach to winemaking, seeing her role as a caretaker of the wines, rather than a manipulator of the wine's character and style
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Our vines are grown on a Geneva Double Curtain trellising system. It is also referred to simply as GDC. The concept aims to improve grape quality by reducing shade within a dense canopy, by dividing the mass of foliage into two. The trunk is grown high, about 1.5m. From this two permanent cordons grow, each one trained out to run along a supporting wire, approximately 1.2m apart. Along the cordon are the spurs that produce the fruiting canes, which hang down towards the ground. Hence the canopy has been divided into two 'curtains'. This trellising system has many advantages by improving exposure of the bunches to light, more uniform budburst and ripening, increased quality of fruit and yield.
Carol completed a Bachelor of Arts in geography and worked in resource management, before making a career change in 1995, and completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University.