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Pinot Noir in New Zealand: Wither Hills choose Metodo Ganimede^® again.

New Zealand is one of the most isolated wine producing nations in the World. The charm and mystique this land provokes on European people is indisputable.

The truth is that the quality of the wines produced in these territories of the southern hemisphere has gained the attention of both international producers and consumers.

The northern area of the New Zealand South Island, called Marlborough, is the largest winemaking region with over 12,000 hectare of vineyards.

It’s here, in the heart of the Wairau Valley, where Wither Hills lies. An International awarded winery well known for the high quality of its products. Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Noir are the varieties processed. Pinot Noir is the only wine produced from red grapes and consequently they put all their efforts and attention to detail to obtain an elegant and noble product.

Wither Hills, and most of the N.Z. wineries, has always adopted traditional winemaking techniques. Most of their tanks are open top squared base with manual plunging systems where human action is still a determining factor.

In 2004 Wither Hills bought the first Metodo Ganimede^® vinificator of 15.000 liters. They were convinced this innovative and natural vinification method was the right choice in order to rationalize their production process, with increasing volume of Pinot Noir, maintaining the same quality level they had reached since then.

The first vintage with Metodo Ganimede^® was a success. The wines highlighted a much more fruity characters with silky and elegant tannins and in the end they processed large quantity of grapes with the same tank and minimun manpower involved. Metodo Ganimede^® had passed the test and the results were better than their expectations.

In 2009 they decided to invest on Metodo Ganimede^® technology again and they ordered other 3 vinificators of 28.000 liters.

For the 2011 vintage, Wither Hills decided to significantly expand their winemaking facilities and the Metodo Ganimede^®’s choice, after the brilliant results, was easy.

10 vinificators of 28.000 liters has been installed. You can view a few photos in the gallery if you click on the link left to the News’ title.

Now the Metodo Ganimede^® vinificators represent a large percentage of Wither Hill’s fermenting capacity.

The Chief winemaker, Ben Glover, is very satisfied with the results. The vinificators have processed Pinot Noir variety, both in pre-fermentative phase, with cold maceration of a few days, and in post-fermentative phase, with long maceration on skins up to 35 days.

The color extraction, the softness of tannins, the fruity notes and the elegance of a wine, that is very difficult to vinificate, as the Pinot Noir is, they are all characteristics we can find in Metodo Ganimede^®’s wines.

UPDATE: 4 Ganimede vinificators more have been installed for the 2012 vintage!

Wither Hills now has 17 Ganimede of 28.000 lt. and 1 Ganimede of 15.000 lt. !

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