26-Oct-2017
Doctors Flat is the label of highly respected Central Otago winemaker Steve Davies. Steve has crafted numerous award winning wines over the years, but Pinot Noir is his claim to fame. He established his 3 ha vineyard in Bannockburn in 2002, planting Pinot Noir clones 114, 115 and 777, producing his first Doctors Flat wine in 2008. Steve farms organically, believing that soil heath is a key factor for success and knowing that proper soil micro life "maintains a symbiotic relationship with the vines” which break down to provide nutrients. His research has shown that his vineyard, unusual in the region, has an advanced soil age, composed of deep gravels laid down by receding glacier some 450,000 years ago, and this is surmised to contribute to the fine tannins and good texture of his wine. Here, I review the new release 2014 Doctors Flat Pinot Noir. Steve reports that he has taken a lighter approach to inputs into the wine, after a harvest in Burgundy in 2012 and will be interested in how this will show in terms of "seeing the vineyard more clearly”. www.doctorsflat.co.nz
