20-Sep-2017
The Black Stilt vineyard is the Waitaki Valley wine venture of Aucklanders John and Nola Harvey, who over 2004 and 2005 planted 3 ha of Pinot Gris and 1 ha of Pinot Noir on one of the higher locations in the district. The vineyard is named after one of the world's rarest wading birds, which finds its home in the upper reaches of the Waitaki River valley. The original wines were made by Dan and Sarah-Kate Dineen at Maude, but now the Harveys have Dean Shaw making the Pinot Gris and Grant Taylor making the Riesling and Pinot Noir. John Harvey reports from 2013 to 2016 they had experienced bad seasons with frost damage and poor heat accumulation, which meant there was no harvest from their vineyard for the 2013 to 2015 vintages, so they purchased fruit from neighbouring vineyards to keep the label going. In 2016 they managed to obtain fruit from their site again. Here, I review the 2016 Pinot Gris and Riesling, and 2014 Pinot Noir, all showing good character and winemaking. www.blackstiltwines.co.nz
