The growing season was longer than usual as mild spring weather resulted in early bud-burst, but was followed by cool nights which prevented excessively rapid growth.  We had good accumulation of summer heat and a long, dry autumn.  Harvest was, as usual, in April. The fruit was beautifully physiologically ripe when picked, but yet had good levels of natural acid without excessive concentration of sugar.

Prima Donna is only made in special vintages. The whole growing season was ideal apart from the period when the vines were in flower. This was the coldest and wettest December Waipara has ever experienced and as a result the number of berries setting was extremely low, resulting in the smallest crops we have seen. Because of this the wine has extra concentration and depth.

A mild spring was followed by extremely hot weather over the early and middle part of summer. Initially we thought the season might be too hot for pinot noir but the latter part of summer was quite cool, bringing things back into balance. The autumn was dry, lingering and warm...

Cool weather during the flowering reduced the "set", which resulted in a small crop of grapes on the vines. The rest of the growing season was excellent and the autumn was long and warm, so that the Pinot Noir grapes were harvested in optimal condition...

The vines were carefully trained by hand so that the leaves and bunches were fully exposed to the sun. This included the removal of all leaves which might cause excessive shading of the grapes and of other leaves within the canopy...

A mild spring led to the vines bursting into leaf early. The summer days were hot but the nights tended to be cool, leading to a large diurnal temperature variation...

PRIMA DONNA - Principle female singer in opera. Pinot Noir is the Prima Donna of grape varieties, and is by nature temperamental...