Most of the fruit for this wine was grown on the Plunkett family vineyard, with a smaller component from Carrillo Gantner’s Booroola Vineyard. Both are in the cool and elevated Strathbogie Ranges region in Central Victoria.

2017 was coolish season and we picked the Whitegate Pinot Gris on 17th April, a staggering 6 weeks later than in 2016! This late cool season helped us make a more delicate and spicy wine, with moderate alcohol. In the winery, we used am enclosed tank press to gently squeeze the juice from the berries and used a pure yeast culture called Prise de Mousee in the ferment. Isolated in Champagne, we selected this yeast because its relatively neutral character allows the natural flavour of the Pinot Gris to shine. We fermented this wine at around 14°C to preserve the primary fruit flavours and bottled shortly after vintage – another winemaking technique that helps retain freshness.