Nestled on a slope above Mackenzies Road, James Course-Choi’s vineyard, Korimako, is said to be the only northeast-facing Pinot Noir vineyard in Waipara. This Biogro-certified site was initially planted by Guy Porter in 2004 and is populated with Clone 5 Pinot Noir, one of the so-called ‘Pommard’ selections that came to New Zealand in the mid-1970s via California.
In the shed (no exaggeration there) the harvest was hand-sorted to select only perfectly ripe fruit. Huw Kinch wild fermented this with one-third whole-bunch in wooden cuves for three weeks. The juice was pressed and settled before aging in French oak barrels for 18 months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered, in September 2021.