Rockburn

Rockburn began as Richard Bunton's hobby in 1991, when he planted a few hectares in what was then an almost unknown Central Otago. In 2005 winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis arrived from Felton Road, and the wines have not looked back.

Central Otago is the southernmost wine region on earth and the only one in New Zealand with a continental rather than maritime climate. Summers are hot, nights are cold, and winters are severe, which gives Pinot Noir a depth of colour and fruit that cooler maritime regions cannot match while the diurnal swing preserves the acidity. The estate draws on several sub-regions, including Gibbston, the highest and coolest of them, where ripening runs weeks behind the valley floor.

The barrel-selection wines are the ones to know: Twelve Barrels and Seven Barrels are chosen after fermentation from the best lots of the year, and The Chosen isolates a single Pinot Noir clone. Rockburn also make one of the more serious Pinot Gris in the country.