Since 2009 Fancrest has bottled it's Pinot Noir in light-weight glass to reduce our carbon footprint. It's also easier and safer for workers to handle full cases.

Fining is a process used to stabilize mainly proteins. A number of charged particles are useful to achieve this, including eggs, milk, fish etc. No fining agent leaves the wine aromatics and texture completely untouched so we have decided to avoid it wherever possible. A skilled winemaker will conduct trials to ensure no more fining agent that is necessary is used, and that all that has been added, combines with the proteins, and is able to be filtered out leaving no residue behind.

Filtering is a process for removing particulate matter in the wine to improve clarity. It is well known to strip the wine of desirable qualities. It is our policy to improve clarity through patience... allowing particulates to settle naturally by gravity and then racking the clear wine off the top just prior to bottling.

We have been convinced by the studies that show aromatic wines like Pinot Noir age better under "Stelvin" (the brand of screw-cap we use), than under cork.

We certainly explored the option of making our wines completely naturally but were unconvinced we could produce a quality wine that would age well.

As a compromise we use exceedingly low free and total sulphite levels.

2008 was a particularly challenging vintage. While we are very pleased with the resulting wine it does not meet the very high standards we set for Di's Pinot Noir. It nevertheless remains exceedingly drinkable but will probably not have the same longevity.

As of 1 March 2011 Fancrest Estate had full certification (BioGro #5124) as an organic producer so the 2011 vintage is our first using certified organic grapes. Both the 2009 and 2010 vintages were produced "in-conversion" ie under a full organic programme but within the 3 year conversion period.

Wine that is made naturally, with as little processing as possible, will naturally precipitate crystals of potassium bitartrate (same stuff as baking soda) when the wine gets cold. In red wines these crystals combine with tannins to form red-coloured crystal complexes heavy enough to settle to the bottom of the bottle in a crust. Careful pouring or decanting will ensure they stay out of the glass. I love to nibble on them...  

The New Zealand Biological Producers and Consumers Council (trading as BIO-GRO NZ) was first incorporated in 1983. Its aims are to promote and support biological husbandry and the production and consumption of organic products. Part of this work involves the maintenance and development of the BIO-GRO Organic Standards and the provision of organic certification.

BIO-GRO published its first standards in 1984 and the first certifications against this standard were made the same year. BIO-GRO became a member of IFOAM in 1986, and was first IFOAM Accredited in 1997. BIO-GRO's most rapid growth period was from 1995 to 2001, when a large number of kiwifruit and pipfruit orchards converted to organics, and significant growth continues in other sectors such as processing, dairy, and vineyards and wine. 

BIO-GRO is an Incorporated Society, registered in New Zealand. It is a not for profit, membership organisation with an elected Board of Directors, and paid staff. BIO-GRO's certified operators (licensees) are able to use the BIO-GRO logo on their products, and also the IFOAM Seal if they wish. 

A certification panel of staff members is charged with making day to day certification decisions, but ultimate authority rests with a stakeholder based certification committee which exercises monitoring and oversight of the certification panel, and makes any precedent decisions. An appeals committee, a sub-committee of the Board, deals with operator appeals against decisions.

BIO-GRO certification is provided by BioGro NZ Ltd, a company, which is wholly owned by the NZ Biological Producers and Consumers Council. BioGro NZ Ltd carries out all the audits and certificate decision and issue for the approximately 700 operations which have BIO-GRO certification in New Zealand, Niue, and the Cook Islands.

BIO-GRO certified operators produce a host of products that are sold domestically and internationally.

BIO-GRO's IFOAM Accredited certification programme covers the categories of crop production, livestock, processing and handling, retail, input manufacturing, wild harvest, grower groups, and certification transference. Certification and programmes offered outside of the IFOAM programme are fibre processing, aquaculture, wild game, USDA NOP, health and body care, water, salt, and their NZ domestic programme.

All vineyard inputs must be approved by BioGro before use. Early season sprays include Lime Sulphur, mineral oils, and sulphur. Powdery Mildew and Botrytis are held at bay by carefully timed organic biological sprays.

Leaf lamina and petiole tests are done annually to measure plant health. Mineral amendments where needed are added through chelated micronutrient foliar applications. Limestone clays bind essential micronutrients making them unavailable to the vines meaning we need to add them through the leaves to stop the vine becoming seriously deficient.

Organic production is an overall system of farm management and food production that combines best environmental
practices, a high level of biodiversity, the preservation of natural resources, the application of high
animal welfare standards and a production method in line with the preference of certain consumers for products
produced using natural substances and processes. The organic production method thus plays a dual societal role,
where it on the one hand provides for a specific market responding to a consumer demand for organic products,
and on the other hand delivers public goods contributing to the protection of the environment and animal welfare, as
well as to rural development.

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) is the worldwide umbrella organization for the organic movement, uniting more than 750 member organizations in 116 countries.

Organic trade is a rapidly growing reality all over the world. The growth rates of the organic sector demonstrate that organic products are moving from the “niche” and entering mainstream markets. The total land under certified organic production worldwide has reached over 26 Million hectares. IFOAM is at the center of this development.

International Relationships
IFOAM actively participates in international agricultural and environmental negotiations with the United Nations and multilateral institutions to further the interests of the organic agricultural movement worldwide. IFOAM is uniquely recognized for taking on this important role. The introduction of the Principles of Organic Agriculture and the recognition of IFOAM by international institutions is of enormous importance for the further development of Organic Agriculture.

The Organic Guarantee System
IFOAM provides a market guarantee for integrity of organic claims. The Organic Guarantee System (OGS) unites the organic world through a common system of standards, verification and market identity. It fosters equivalence among participating IFOAM accredited certifiers, paving the way for more orderly and reliable trade whilst acknowledging consumer trust in the organic ‘brand’. 

We have 8 clones selected for their quality rather than productivity. These include the Pommard clones UCD5 & 6 and the Dijon clones B667, B777, B113, B114 and B115. Finally we have planted the Abel (or gumboot clone) reputed to have been taken from DRC.

Fancrest Estate established it's vineyard starting in 2003 using metal intermediate posts and end stays in anticipation that the use of CCA treated posts in organic viticulture was not sustainable and was likely to be discouraged or banned.

Prior to 1 July 2010 Copper Chromium Arsenate (CCA) treated timber was commonly used for fencing and trellising on certified organic production, including in horticultural, viticulture and pastoral settings.

Following an audit in 2008, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulators signaled that the use of CCA treated timber was prohibited on United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Programme (USDA NOP) certified properties. A phase-out period was negotiated by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), meaning that the use of new or recycled CCA treated timber for new or replacement construction must be discontinued from 1 July 2010.

Current Organic Management Plans for USDA NOP certified properties, including livestock farms, must address how the property will be managed without the use of CCA treated posts and timber, including without both new and recycled posts and timber, for new installations and replacement purposes from 1 July 2010.

Alternatives to CCA treated posts and timber NOP compliant fencing materials include:
• Metal such as steel and aluminum
• Concrete
• Ground durable timbers such as chestnut, robinia, some eucalypts, and macrocarpa.
NOP compliant building materials include all untreated timbers.

As at 2011 Fancrest Estate has around 5.4Ha under vine.

2m x 1m or 5000 vines/Ha

Soil structure is vitally important for plant-soil and plant-water relations. It is also extremely vulnerable to damage by ploughing or tilling. Disturbed soils rapidly revert to bacterially dominated status and in this state quickly become dominated by first succession weeds (thistle, fat-hen, mallow etc) and grasses. Soils that are left undisturbed and which are allowed to accumulate biomass through the activity of natural composting and earthworms slowly become fungally dominant, much like the soils of a forest floor ,,, the original home of wild vines.  

This philosophy is in direct contrast to Biodynamics which requires regular ploughing.

We believe that to produce high quality Pinot Noir requires optimum soil tilth and fertility in the vineyard. These are directly related to biological soil structure or the soil-food-web.

Soil crumb structure is built from the bottom up, through microbial bio-agglutination of the smallest soil particles, which then aggregate into larger, electrically neutral, crumbs. The pores formed between these crumbs act as capillaries that facilitate water and air movement and protect against evaporation.

In this special soil micro-climate, vine roots interact with the soil food web (bacteria, fungi, nematodes and earthworms). Bacteria dominate the top soil layer (3-8cm). The layer we are more interested in, lies beneath the top-soil layer and is called the plasma-tilth horizon. When soils are left undisturbed, this layer can grow 1-2m deep. Yes, "grow": this is a living soil layer! And this is the depth we expect our vines roots to actively explore.

This layer is dominated by fungi that produce a bio-agglutinating glycoprotein called glomulin. The nice thing about glomulin is that it sequesters large amounts of carbon. It also binds to silt, sand and clay particles forming stable soil crumbs. Vines, as they grow, secrete large amounts of root exudates from their root tips (as much by weight as there is plant matter above ground). Aerobic micorrhizal fungi feed on these root exudates in a symbiotic relationship with the vine, helping the vine roots to explore deeper and deeper. As the depth of the plasma-tilth horizon extends, the vine becomes naturally more resilient to drought and reduce reliance on irrigation.

Mechanically crumbled or ploughed soils lose these qualities, start silting and growing weeds like thistles, nettles, fat hen and annual grasses. If left undisturbed, over time, as these plants die and enrich the soil, they would be replaced by perennial grasses and other plants, then woody shrubs. In many areas, these would eventually be overgrown by native trees and become a forest. Plant ecologists call this natural pattern ‘vegetation succession’. If the soil is continually disturbed by ploughing or tilling, the early succession "weeds" would continue to appear. Bearing in mind the weed seed potential of most soils is about 20,000 seeds/m2, this is a battle you just can't win without heavy duty herbicides which themselves decimate soil biology, leaving it barren, compacted or collapsed, and lifeless.

The natural habitat of vines is forests with deep rich soils dominated by fungi. So this is the environment we are trying to give them here at Fancrest Estate.

Actually a weed is really just a plant growing where it isn't wanted. Apart from noxious weeds, most so-called "weeds" play a vitally important role, especially in the stabilization of recently disturbed soils. First-succession weeds have a role in breaking plough-pans with their tough roots and are particularly good in sourcing minerals in-which the soil is deficient. The weeds increase biodiversity and once they have done their job, they simply disappear without the help of herbicides. When the weeds naturally leave the vineyard, we seed the vineyard with a herbal ley to provide a steady source of nectar and pollen for bees, bumblebees and a veritable zoo of beneficial insects. The type of weeds growing in particular areas of the vineyard are strong indicators of what's going on below the surface and a good viticulturalist will learn how to read the weeds.

Our greatest challenge is to keep powdery mildew at bay. This is a dry-weather disease so given our arid climate we are at high risk every season. It does not cope well with sunlight so one of our strategies is to keep our canopies light and open. Fortunately we have a low-vigour site and this helps keep the canopy from becoming thick and bushy. Also the best strategy involves constant vigilance from budburst through to just past veraison, bearing in mind it is a disease that attacks only green plant material. Our strategy for controlling infection is evolving every year. Seaweed sprays (containing certain cold water kelps) play a vital role in eliciting an plant immune response and we have found them useful in keeping vines healthy. We do however also use sulphur as well as biologicals. We no longer tolerate any PM at harvest and infected fruit is dropped well before this event.

Pinot Noir is an ancient wine variety that is extremely fussy about where it's grown. Choose the right terroir and it can produce the most sublimely beautiful wine. Put it in the wrong place and it can be a total disappointment. Its thin skin  makes it very vulnerable to disease, while at the same time being responsible for making it a less grunty and tannic variety than say Syrah. This of course doesn't reduce the quality of it's wines which can be mind-blowingly complex and intriguing. Some of the most expensive wines on the planet are made from Pinot Noir.

Our site is perfect for Pinot Noir in almost every respect. Being the handful it is we decided to focus our attention on Pinot Noir and try to do one thing extraordinarily well.

This is a "French" word that has been adopted by wine drinking cultures around the world. It is not simply a description of the soil the wine is grown in but includes geography, climate, weather, aspect, slope, the people and the winegrowing methods employed. This combination of factors will be unique for every wine grown. This doesn't mean every wine will necessarily express it's terroir in it's aroma and taste profile. Wines grown and made commercially (and quite often industrially) often lack this finesse. Only wines where special attention has been payed to bringing the vine in closer contact with the core of these elements: like biologically active soils (inorganic fertilizers kill soil biology) and winegrowing that is sensitive and reactive to the nuances of every season will produce wines that express terroir, regardless of what the back label says.

Terroir

There can be no discussion on terroir that doesn't include soils, site and climate

Soil

The seaward slopes of the Omihi branch of the Waipara Valley (where we are) are glauconitic limestone hills thrust up from what was ocean around 26 million years ago. These limestones not only affect soil pH (acidity/alkalinity) but the rock is the parent material for special soils (mainly clays) that have the special ability to hold water. In parts of the vineyard where the soil is thin these clays, surprisingly, are very dark, almost black when wet with a pH around 8.

Site

The entire Estate is on the slopes of an alluvial fan with a gradient of around 8-10 degrees. This makes the site free draining so the vines never sit with wet feet. Also the slope allows cold frosty air to drain away onto the valley floor before it can damage the vines. The slope ensures the warming rays of the sun are optimal both early and late in the season making it easier to bring fruit to physiological ripeness even in the most challenging seasons.

The fan is north-west through north through North-north-east facing. This means it warms up quickly in the spring and gives us what would consistently be among the earliest bud-burst and hence harvest dates for Pinot Noir in the valley. This is handy as it allows us to bring the fruit in before the autumn rains begin.

Climate

Our climate can best be described as arid with annual rainfall around 600mm. This is too dry for establishing a vineyard without irrigation. Strong dry Nor-westers are a dominant wind feature along with the stunning cloud formations they create. Rain is brought mainly in Autumn on cold Sou'westerlies and Nor'easters. Fancrest Estate is fortunate in that its position, nestled under the foothills of the Cass Range, that it misses the foggy damp Easterlies that dominate Christchurch's weather, and ensure we enjoy weather about 4 degrees on average than Christchurch. Missing out on the fog means keeping Botrytis Cinerea at bay is relatively easy. 

People

A strong conviction that living soils are required to create wines with real longevity drives Di to work long hours in the vineyard. It is here her wines are made, not in the winery. A walk through the vineyard highlights the emphasis she places on Biodiversity. Free ranging fowl control insect pests while successive weed species and high populations of soil fauna build soil structure.