13-Sep-2017
Vynfields was established by the late John Bell and Kaye McAulay when they purchased an existing vineyard in Martinborough in 1998. Through their determined work, they brought the vineyard up to be certified BioGro organic and certified Demeter biodynamic, and developed an excellent and eclectic range of Pinot Noir and Riesling based wines, made by Marion Deimling of Schubert Wines. In February 2014, Vynfields was purchased by a syndicate headed by Harry and Zinder Guo, who have sold much of the production to the Chinese market where some of their partner operate. In concentrating on export, there is a diminished domestic presence, and the Guos have instituted a number of changes to meet their market demands, such as sealing the bottles in natural cork, rather than screwcap. The BioGro organic certification is valued by their markets, and although the vineyard is run to biodynamic regimes, that certification is not essential for their export clients. The philosophy of the Pinot Noirs remains the same, where selected vineyard parcels are cropped at low (33 hL/ha) and lower (27 hL/ha) yields for the ‘Estate’ and ‘Reserve’ Pinot Noirs respectively. Here, I review the new release 2014 Vynfields ‘Estate’ and ‘Reserve’ Pinot Noirs. www.vynfields.com
