Location and History
The little winery is situated on Coalpit Road in the heart of the Gibbston grapegrowing district about 30 kilometres from Queenstown. Owner and winemaker Alan Brady was the first to plant grapes in this valley in 1981 and has been at the forefront of the development of Central Otago as one of the world's exciting new wine regions. He founded Gibbston Valley Wines Ltd which he deveoloped into a company with an international reputation for its pinot noir. His new project (first vintaage 1998) overlooks some of the big new vineyards which have been planted since his pioneering efforts 20 years ago. Mount Edward is an intensely personal project dedicated almost exclusively to his passion for pinot noir. The only other wine produced is a small amount of riesling made from grapes grown on a steep hillside behind the winery.
Grapes and Winemaking
Alan Brady's winemaking philosophy hinges on getting the basics right. That means extra work in the vineyard, restricting crop levels and managing the vine canopy to achieve optimum ripeness. The grapes, from a site across the road from the winery at Gibbston and another 50 kilometres away in the warmer Alexandra area, are hand picked in small bins, almost invariably in cool dry conditions. Brady believes the region's long, dry autumns are its most important climatic attribute. In the winery he keeps it simple. The clusters are destemmed but not crushed, fermentation is in small two to three tonne open topped fermenters and punch down is manual. The small production (about 1500 cases) allows a traditional basket press to be used as an important part of this gentle approach. The wines spend 11 months in French oak barriques (35% new) before bottling. |
