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Pyramid Valley

One of the New World’s Most Exhilarating Producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Pyramid Valley founders, Mike and Claudia Weersing, were driven to create one of the New World’s great cool-climate vineyards and it took 15 years and a quixotic global journey that included a lengthy stopover in Burgundy. Mimicking the aspect and soils of this region, the Weersings finally found their special place in the southern hemisphere, within a barren chain of limestone-rich scarps at Waikari in North Canterbury. Inspiring all who came into their orbit, over another 15 years Mike and Claudia emerged as New Zealands pioneers of both biodynamic practices and high-density viticulture. Their minute scale and exceptional dedication to their soils and vines led to some incredible wines being produced.

In 2017, Mike and Claudia were moved to make the tough decision to put their magnum opus on the market. Steve Smith MW (previously of Craggy Range) was one of the many affected by what he describes as one of the most compelling and unique vineyards he has ever visited—he and his partner Brian Sheth acquired the estate in late 2017. Pyramid Valley had no shortage of suitors, and that Mike and Claudia chose to accept Smith’s offer speaks volumes. Smith’s blueprint from the outset has been to honour the Weersing’s vision and to build on the authenticity and integrity of the vineyard’s origins.

Building on the vision and authenticity of founders Mike and Claudia Weersing, the new owners look like a dead cert to cement this exceptional estate’s reputation as one of the New World’s most exciting producers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Smith brought in Huw Kinch from Martinborough’s Escarpment as Estate Manager and Winemaker. Kinch was already a huge fan, believing that Pyramid Valley’s Chardonnays were among the most profound examples he had tasted. Nick Paulin then joined from Central Otago, where he had been introduced to biodynamic viticulture under Blair Walter at Felton Road (before stints at Peregrine and Lowburn Ferry).

Since joining the team in the winter of 2018, Kinch (who lives on-site with his family) has spent much of his energy expanding the original blocks, which now extend to 6.8 hectares (still not a lot of vines). Following Mike Weersing’s original vineyard map—which he never got to complete—the new plantings are all on Pyramid Valley’s mid-slope. To add clonal complexity, the new Chardonnay cuttings have included some clone 845 (in addition to the existing Mendoza and 95). The vines are spaced at a slightly lower density of 8,000 vines per hectare to allow more cover cropping and increased soil biodiversity. Kinch is particularly excited about expanding the existing, tiny 0.4-hectare Lion’s Tooth Block. 

Pyramid Valley now releases three collections annually. The emblematic, 100% estate Botanical Collection will be released on allocation. For more general release is their Pastures Collection, which sees Pyramid Valley working with a roster of exceptional growers in North Canterbury, Central Otago and Marlborough. This collection is the Pyramid Valley’s negociant arm—a vital part of this project, with the aim to create a set of wines that share the same sense of somewhereness as the wines from the home vineyard. Finally, the Colours Collection comprises the Sauvignon+, Orange and Rosé.

Currently Available

Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Chardonnay 2022

Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Chardonnay 2022

The North Canterbury Chardonnay comes from two vineyards, principally Waipara Springs, where old-vine Mendoza Chardonnay grows on the Omihi clay soils. This year’s release includes one barrel of first-crop Chardonnay from Pyramid’s organic Central Otago farm in Lowburn. Hand-harvested several weeks later than in 2021, the must fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in 20% new French oak and 40% concrete ‘Tuilpes’ for 12 months before settling in concrete on light lees for another four months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, it’s a super classy, flinty expression, with savoury cashew notes supported by ripe stone and citrus fruits tethered by underlying salinity. “This is extremely well-made, with sliced dried apples, apple tart, flint and matchstick as well as a hints of smoke. It’s medium-bodied with lovely fruit and a light bitterness that gives complexity and presence.” 95 points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

“This is extremely well-made, with sliced dried apples, apple tart, flint and matchstick as well as a hints of smoke. It’s medium-bodied with lovely fruit and a light bitterness that gives complexity and presence.”
95 points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
“Intense and appealing chardonnay with white peach, fresh herbs, citrus/lemon curd and a subtle green apple flavour. Deliciously textural wine with a silken and ethereal influence together with a contrasting juicy acidity.”
95 points, Bob Campbell, the Real Review
“Has stacks of flavour and lots of personality. Great waves and slosh of red apple, gingery spice, just-ripe nectarine, honey nut Cornflakes, sugared almonds and a strong, almost Champagne like rapier thrust of saline minerality. Whoosh! That draw and tuck of brine is just awesome and so refreshing, and so much pretty flesh and flavour hangs off it. A very complete and compelling wine.”
94 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
“Waipara-born chardonnay matured in 62% French oak barrels (20% new) and 38% in a concrete Tulipe for 12 months before settling in a concrete Tulipe on light lees for a further 5 months. Light straw with aromas of white peach, apple and citrus fruit with hints of wildflowers, grilled nuts, clotted cream, lemon rind, peach tea, soft spice and crushed stone. Some nice lees-y complexity; texture, too, with a bright, nervy mineral cadence.”
94 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Chardonnay 2022
Pyramid Valley Central Otago Manata Pinot Noir 2021

Pyramid Valley Central Otago Manata Pinot Noir 2021

Pyramid Valley opened a new chapter of its story in 2018 when it purchased Jean and Roger Gibson’s highly regarded Lowburn Ferry vineyard in Central Otago’s Lowburn sub-region. Already winning national awards by 2003, the site was planted in 2000 on a gentle, north-facing slope with 30% own-rooted vines and a mix of clones—some of the oldest Pinot vines in Otago. A supplement of higher-density Pinot Noir was planted on a lower terrace in 2018 by Pyramid Valley’s biodynamic specialist, Nick Paulin, who lives on and manages the property. Now renamed Manata, paying homage to a romantic Māori legend of this region, soils are predominantly loess over deep silts that have developed pedogenic lime deposits. 2021 was the final year of organic conversion; as of 2022, the site has been certified organic by BioGro NZ. There are two wines made from this vineyard. The Manata Pinot is a selection of blocks, while a single-parcel Pinot Noir called Snake Tongue now forms part of the Botanical Selection. The grapes were hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top concrete and oak fermenters, with 15% whole bunches included. The wine aged in French oak barrels (25% new) for 12 months before settling in concrete and wooden cuves on light lees for a further six months. All parties involved are clearly besotted by this “special” vineyard whose wine manifests the dark berry plushness and energy of Central Otago, allied to silky structure and impressive ageing potential.

“Manata is a vineyard in Lowburn, Central Otago which has been cultivated as a market garden for 150 years to produce soils that are high in organic matter. Dense, rich and concentrated pinot noir with cassis, ripe plum, and mocha flavours. Seductive, accessible and tantalisingly complex wine with development potential.”
96 points, Bob Campbell, the Real Review
“Sweet cherry and strawberry with cedar, light tar and stone aromas along with some vanilla bean that follows through to a full body with round and polished tannins and a crunchy finish. A savory tone to the fruit makes this very attractive and enticing. Fine and firm tannined finish.”
94 points, Jamessuckling.com
“The 2021 Manata Pinot Noir is distinctly soft, rolling and round—it sort of flows across the palate in a liquid kind of way (despite the fact that it is, actually, liquid). It's all dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee grounds, black pudding, dark cherry, plum skin and bay leaf. This is a soft, pillowy wine that has magnitude and gravitas through the finish, which is a pleasurable offset. A red apple core at the heart of the wine keeps me coming back for more... a good attribute in a wine. “Those dark characters may be the impact of the last five days of harvest, where we had strong warm northwest winds. It hit 30 degrees occasionally," says Steve Smith, MW. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.”
93 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
“A wonderfully expressive pinot noir from the Manata vineyard in Lowburn that shows effusive, pure dark plum and cherry fruits with an underlayer of fine spice, vanilla essence, mocha, thyme, wildflowers, dried orange rind and crushed rocks. Very calm and composed on the palate. Fruit-pure and ripe, spice and crushed herbs in layers, tannins powdery fine, bright, lacy acidity and an almost ferrous savouriness to its exit.”
95 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Pyramid Valley Central Otago Manata Pinot Noir 2021
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Orange 2023

Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Orange 2023

It tastes like Huw Kinch is on a personal mission to make the best dammed orange wine in the southern hemisphere. And he’s getting there! This year’s blend comprises 62% Pinot Gris, 23% Sauvignon Blanc, 14% Pinot Noir (vinified as a white) and the merest seasoning of Gewürztraminer, Muscat and Viognier. The wine brings together four vineyards that are sustainably farmed, free of artificial chemicals or fertilisers: the Course-Choi Vineyard (previously Porters) on Mackenzies Road; the Good Family Vineyard and Fraher Vineyard on Omihi Clay soils in North Canterbury; and Pinot Noir from Pyramid Valley’s Lowburn vineyard in Central Otago. The fruit is primarily vinified as bunches for 12 to 24 days in open-top fermenters with a small amount of ‘Blanc de Noir’ pressings added during fermentation. The wines age in concrete and old barrels for six months without sulphur. “We want to make an Orange that’s balanced between the tannins and fruit weight,” Kinch explains. “So finer, lighter tannins, something that matches our cooler climate.” Max Allen commented on this wine’s premier release: “Oh, if only all orange wines were as downright delicious and as beautiful as this.” It has only kicked on since then. So moreish and tangy with a juicy palate and dry, powdery close licked by Campari-like bitters. Tangerine dream!

“I love the tangerines, cloves, nutmeg, flint, rose petals and smoke. Medium-bodied with lovely density and hints of fine tannins. This is a sophisticated and polished orange wine.”
93 points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com
“Phwoar! ... this looks and smells wicked. Hazy orange in the glass with aromas of cold peach tea, watered down apricot nectar, pressed wildflowers, souk-like spices, Campari and soda, crushed herbs, amaro, crushed rock and dried tangerine rind. Dry and stony with a swoop of texture, leaving a pithy feel on the tongue and a savoury and endlessly complex exit with plenty of minerally energy.”
93 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Orange 2023
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2021

Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2021

A blend of Pinot Noir (96%) and Pinot Gris, this comes from two sustainably farmed Waipara vineyards. The old-vine Pinot Noir (planted in the early ‘90s) is from the Waipara Springs vineyard, which is managed by the PV team. The Pinot Gris is sourced from the Porters vineyard. The fruit was whole-bunch-pressed and naturally fermented in old oak cuves and puncheons. It sat on lees for six months before being bottled unfined. Boom. This has delicious, bright and crunchy summer fruits alongside a subtle savoury and ozone quality that provides aromatic intrigue. There’s terrific, mouth-watering structure with more vivid red fruit and savoury flavours and all the tension and grip you could ask for in a top rosé. This is Huw Kinch’s first rosé, and he’s nailed it.

Boom. This has delicious, bright and crunchy summer fruits alongside a subtle savoury and ozone quality that provides aromatic intrigue. There’s terrific, mouth-watering structure with more vivid red fruit and savoury flavours and all the tension and grip you could ask for in a top rosé. This is Huw Kinch’s first rosé, and he’s nailed it.

“Crafted from vines planted in the early 1980s, the 2021 Rosé (North Canterbury) is whole-bunch-pressed and settled in tank before being wild-fermented in wooden cuves and puncheons, then left on lees until the spring. The end result is a wine that blossoms in the mouth with ripe red fruit and a light savory note. While there’s a hint of sweetness on the finish (the fermentation naturally stopped with 4g/L r.s.), it finishes with a refreshing line of acidity and natural spritz.”
93 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“Pale, pretty rosé with delicate cherry/berry, raspberry and wildflower flavours. Dry and delicate wine with appealing purity and a crisp, lingering finish. Serious, sophisticated rosé.”
94 points, Bob Campbell, the Real Review
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2021
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2022

Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2022

100% Pinot Noir from the Waipara Springs vineyard in Waipara, North Canterbury, which is sustainably farmed with no artificial chemicals or fertilisers. Old-vine 10/5 Clone Pinot Noir was planted in the early 1990s, and the site is managed by Pyramid Valley. The fruit was picked on 11th April. The grapes were pressed as whole bunches before fermenting with indigenous yeasts in a combination of concrete tulips and old puncheons. The wine aged on its ferment lees without sulphur for six months before blending in November. The notes below do not oversell this outstanding wine—we haven’t tasted a more exciting rosé from New Zealand. Structured and vinous it may be, yet it is also seriously addictive. 

“The 2022 Rosé North Canterbury is produced from old vine 10/5 Pinot Noir clones planted in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Dry farmed, managed organically, whole-bunch pressed and fermented in concrete and old puncheons before spending six months on lees, the resulting wine is dry, full and savory. Unlike most rosés, it doesn’t focus on fruit but texture. It is complex and concentrated, firm and serious.”
95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“Pale, pretty rosé with delicate cherry/berry, raspberry and wildflower flavours. Dry and delicate wine with appealing purity and a crisp, lingering finish. Serious, sophisticated rosé.”
94 points, Bob Campbell, The Real Review
“Good colour, orange-y, ruddy hue, though flavours are lighter than expected if not suggestively tinged with blood orange tang over red cherry and pomegranate juice. The perfume is attractive, more cherry, some flinty mineral notes, a touch of dried herbs. It has a nice, sinewy chew to it all, fine tannins finish the wine, a little juiciness mid palate for some added bandwidth. Decent drinking, but doesn’t deliver a more complex expression, though that’s sometimes not the point too, of course.”
91 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
“Pinot noir clone 10/5 sourced from the Waipara Springs vineyard, planted in the early '90s and managed by Pyramid Valley. Onion skin and salmon in the glass with aromas of red apple, redcurrant, watermelon and raspberry with hints of red berry danish, crushed stone, pressed flowers, soft spice and crème fraîche. Ditto on the palate with a super sapid, salivating acid line finishing dry, savoury and downright delicious.”
93 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Rosé 2022
Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardonnay 2022

Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardonnay 2022

Biodynamic. Field of Fire takes its name from the type of grass that grows among the vines in this gently sloped, southeast-facing, clay-limestone plot nestled in the northeast corner of the property, sheltered by a belt of trees and a range of hills behind it. The original 0.3 hectares were planted in 2000 at a density of 11,111 vines per hectare. Plantings were expanded by a further 1.2 hectares between 2018 and 2020, though only the original 2000 plantings and 0.3 hectares from 2018 go into this wine. Field of Fire has a cooler, rockier profile than Lion’s Tooth, and though soils vary throughout the plot, there is a prevalence of shallow (10-15cm) glauconitic clays over the well-drained limestone bedrock. In comparison, Field of Fire typically shows a tighter mineral core and athletic structure cloaked by layered, complex flavour. The fruit was picked on 29th April, a day after Lion’s Tooth, and soaked on skins for four hours after crushing before being pressed to old French barrels for natural fermentation. Maturation occurred in barrel on light lees for 12 months, followed by five months in tank before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. We won’t add much to the reviews below―Bennie and Brookes have nailed it―only to assert that this is elite Chardonnay, worthy of consideration among the best the New and Old World have to offer. Scintillatingly pure with immaculate texture and length for days. 

"Expansive, succulent white of depth and concentration with pretty lift and complexity from jasmine florals, warm straw, hazelnut and button mushroom savouriness amongst the mandarin, ginger, lime, green apple going on. The supple flow stretches luxuriously through the palate and finishes with a light, building chalky pucker. It’s such a chilled out white, but so much is going on. And gosh it drinks beautifully."
96 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
“From a scant 0.3ha southeast-facing high-density planting of chardonnay on limestone/clay soils of the home estate. Wonderfully detailed white peach and citrus fruit with wisps of struck flint, soft spice, clotted cream, oyster shell, toasted hazelnuts, white flowers and crushed stone. Plenty of depth and flow on the palate but there's a real sense of sapidity and mouth-watering mineral drive, finishing chalky and uber pure.”
96 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
“Light-mid yellow colour; complex bouquet with smoky struck-flint overlying beeswax, buttery croissant and stone fruits. The wine is refined and subtle, intense and light on ts feet and yet has a core of richness enlivened by refreshing acidity that helps draw the finish out to great length. An outstanding, high-energy chardonnay of great finesse.”
97 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardonnay 2022
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AT-A-GLANCE

• Pyramid Valley was established by visionary vignerons Mike and Claudia Weersing in Waikari, Canterbury, on New Zealand’s South Island.

• The estate was taken over in 2017 by Steve Smith MW (co-founder of Craggy Range) and business partner Brian Sheth.

• In 2018, Huw Kinch (ex-Escarpment) joined as Estate Manager and Winemaker, while Nick Paulin (ex-Felton Road) looks after the biodynamic viticulture.

• The team manages 80 hectares of vines in North Canterbury, with a further 10 hectares in Central Otago.

• Production focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with small runs of Sauvignon Blanc.

• There are three collections of wines: the flagship, single-block Botanicals Collection from the property in Waikari; the Pastures Collection from selected vineyards in Marlborough, Canterbury and Central Otago; and the more approachably priced Colours Collection.

• The Botanical range is sold on allocation.



IN THE PRESS

“You may think you know New Zealand wines but I can assure you that until you have tasted Pyramid Valley, you have no idea. The results speak for themselves: astonishingly good, terroir-expressive wines that will challenge all your preconceptions.” Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate

Country

New Zealand

Primary Region

Canterbury, Waipara and Otago

People

Winemaker: Huw Kinch

Availability

National

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