North Canterbury, New Zealand (8) Greystone
Website: https://www.greystonewines.co.nz/
Greystone are extremely innovative in their approach. I visited with winemaker Dom Maxwell (who since this visit has left to pursue his own project) and viticulturist Liam Burgess.
I’ve written about Maxwell’s experiments with vineyard ferments in the past at great length. It’s a really interesting concept. As long as it’s warm enough for fermentation to start, doing the Pinot Noir ferments in the vineyard is a great way of ensuring that vineyard yeasts do the actual fermentation, rather than winery-resident yeasts (although there’s good evidence that vineyard yeasts can do the job even inside a winery where lots of cultured yeasts have been used). It’s also a fun concept.
The new breakthrough here has been their regeneration block, which I’ll explain in depth shortly.
Greystone is a 120 hectare property with 40 hectares of vines, in very nice spot on gentle slopes in the Omihi Valley, Waipara. 40% of the vines are Pinot Noir, with the balance Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Most of the planting was done in 2004/5 and they went organic in 2014. Soils are clay, which can be quite heavy, with limestone closer to the surface in the hills.
In 2011 they bought Muddy Water, for the winery and a nice vineyard on clay over limestone.
Adapting vineyards for livestock grazing year round: Greystone’s regeneration block
The potential value of livestock grazing in vineyards for improving soil health is clear. The big question is how this can be achieved practically during the growing season. The clearest benefit from having sheep in the vineyard when the vines are active lies in fruit zone leaf removal, sucker removal, and under vine and mid-row vegetation control.
Greystone have converted Block 7 on their vineyard to become their regeneration block. It has 1.5 hectares of Clone 5 Pinot Noir and 0.75 hectares of Riesling, both planted on Schwarzmann rootstock. The inspiration for this block was the work by Kelly Mulville at Paicenes Ranch in California.
‘What’s special about this block is that we’ve converted the trellising system from a standard VSP to what we call a high wire system,’ says Burgess. ‘It’s sort of cross between a Sylvoz and a Watson trellis, and we can run sheep through here all year round, which is what’s really unique. This gives us the ability to lower our diesel emissions and our tractor passes, and the sheep do all the undervine weeding and mowing for us.’
‘We are looking to see what the influence on soil compaction is going to be, as well,’ says Maxwell. ‘Clay soils like this can get really compacted, so we are hopeful it is going to be of great benefit to the vines, with vine longevity and fruit quality.’
Another benefit is the role that the sheep play in nutrient cycling. ‘If we want to increase the fungal dominance in the soil, this is going to help a lot,’ says Burgess.
‘In our other blocks we have sheep in for part of the year,’ says Maxwell. ‘Being able to have sheep in here the majority of the year will mean the nutrient cycling will be fast tracked.’
How long does it take to get the vines producing again, after converting to a high trellis? ‘We started in the winter of 2021, so we will be coming into our fourth year,’ says Burgess. ‘This [2025] is our third harvest. We didn’t take fruit until 2022, and we took a small crop in 2023 and a reasonable crop in 2024. We could probably speed the process up having learned what we’ve learned, but I’d say 18 months to two years to get back up and running. Now looking at the vines I’d say they yields are comparable to what we get on the rest of the vineyard.’
Are farming costs reduced by this system? ‘They definitely are,’ says Burgess. ‘I don’t know the exact figure but we don’t do any undervine mowing, we don’t do any interrow mowing, there is no trimming, we don’t wire-lift, we don’t bud rub. If you take all those out, there is a significant cost saving.’
The conversion process involved cutting one arm off (it had been double-cordon pruned), and they then forced the other one up, leaving 4-5 two-bud spurs to get canes. In year two they reached the new fruiting wire, and the vines are now on a sort of Sylvoz system which creates a high-wire sprawl.
THE WINES
Greystone Pinot Gris 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
From dense clay soils, planted in 2004. This is juicy, fine and textural with sweet pear and table grape, and some fine spicy notes. Lovely volume here and a wide dynamic range, going from rich to fresh and dynamic. Real personality and texture here. A beautiful expression of Pinot Gris. 93/100
Greystone Sauvignon Blanc 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
50% Loire clones, 376 and 530. These give more open bunches. 100% barrel fermented, 6-7 month fermentation, and full malolactic. There’s some smoky mineral character on the nose. It’s all about texture, with some spice and mineral character as well as nice depth of flavour, with ripe pear and white peach, and some grapey richness. Finishes quite crystalline. Not your typical Kiwi Sauvignon, this is really characterful and fully ripe, but with definition. 93/100
Greystone Organic Chardonnay 2021 North Canterbury, New Zealand
This is bold and expressive with a core of nuts and honey as well as ripe pear and peach. Bold and rounded and evolving in lovely ways with pear and peach. Has nice intensity and finishes spicy. So appealing with lovely depth and richness. 94/100
Greystone Chardonnay 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
From clay and limestone soils, and a mix of barrel size (limestone goes to small oak, clay to puncheons). This is bright and focused with lovely depth to the pear, peach and citrus fruit. There’s a twist of apricot, too, and some mealy character. Nicely textured and rich, but then long and fresh on the finish with nice tapering acidity. Stylish stuff. 94/100
Greystone Erin’s Chardonnay 2021 North Canterbury, New Zealand
Powerful and focused with lovely intensity and focus. Peach, pear and pineapple with some lime, and a concentrated, spicy, mineral thread running through the palate. The acidity is pronounced but beautifully integrated. This is a profound wine with amazing energy and depth. 96/100 ($135 retail)
Greystone Pinot Noir 2019 North Canterbury, New Zealand
This is the current release. There’s some nice development here with a fine spicy, slightly herbal twist to the sweet cherry and plum fruit. This has depth and a sense of harmony, with some sour cherry on the finish. Drinking beautifully now, with a savoury, ferrous twist on the finish. 93/100
Greystone Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir 2021 North Canterbury, New Zealand
13% alcohol. Little bit of whole block. Kept everything in the vineyard after they got a destemmer that doesn’t need three phase power. The vintage weather has a huge amount of influence on the ferments. The wine spends around four weeks in the vineyard. This is complex and has a lovely grainy tannic structure with hints of spice and earth, as well as cherries and plums, with nice grip. Slightly drying but really fine. This is a complex, layered Pinot of real charm but also some serious structure. 95/100
Greystone Thomas Brothers Pinot Noir 2021 North Canterbury, New Zealand
Hillside Pinot block near Erin. 1 hectare, low yielding, limestone soils. Small berries, so they try to be light with the extraction. Thrilling floral aromatics with sweet strawberries and cherries and some liqueur-like richness. The palate is all about texture: sleek and smooth with real elegance and some nice sleek red cherry fruit, covering the structure. There’s a chalky note on the finish, too. The tannins melt into the fruit really nicely. So expressive and fine, a beautiful Waipara Pinot. 96/100
Greystone Vineyard Ferment Syrah 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
13.5% alcohol. 40% whole cluster. Wonderful pepper and spice on the nose with sweet cherry and raspberry fruit. There’s a lovely texture on the palate with sweet, ripe red cherry and berry fruit, with some pepper and spice, showing amazing precision as well as sweet fruit. This is almost perfect, with a core of sweet fruit then balanced with pepper, minerals and spice. So pure, so seductive, but also fine. 97/100
Greystone Block 7 Pinot Noir 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
High wire, sheep in the vineyard, fermented in the vineyard. The first year they have taken fruit off the vineyard. Silky, fine, expressive and really textural with a pepper and iron edge to the sleek fruit. There’s elegance and balance here with lovely purity. Some wild strawberry and red cherry. Very fine, with a nice spicy element on the palate. 95/100
Greystone Block 7 Riesling 2023 North Canterbury, New Zealand
Pure, lemony and bright with juicy fruit and a nice texture. Very supple and stylish with a bit of sweetness. Such a lovely bright wine with real purity. 92/100
