Estate grown since 1987
Slow wines from a quiet limestone hill
Six grape varieties, forty-two hectares and one small cellar. Every bottle starts in our own rows and ends at your table.
// The estate
Vinea is a small family winery that farms every row it bottles
We grow Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay, Riesling, Grenache and a little Pinot Meunier on south facing slopes, and we make every wine in a cellar dug into the same hill.
Hand harvested
Every bunch is picked by hand into small crates, so the fruit reaches the press whole and cool.
Hand harvested
Every bunch is picked by hand into small crates, so the fruit reaches the press whole and cool.
Hand harvested
Every bunch is picked by hand into small crates, so the fruit reaches the press whole and cool.
Hand harvested
Every bunch is picked by hand into small crates, so the fruit reaches the press whole and cool.
// From row to glass
Thirty-nine harvests on the same quiet slope
Our grandparents planted the first Pinot Noir in 1987 on a hill everyone else used for sheep. The limestone keeps the roots cool and the wines bright, and we have never found a reason to farm it any other way.
Vineyard size
42 hectares
Soils
Limestone and clay
Elevation
280 to 410 metres
Annual bottles
Around 60,000
Pruning
Budburst
Harvest
Pressing
Cellar
Bottling
Pruning
Budburst
Harvest
Pressing
Cellar
Bottling
Pruning
Budburst
Harvest
Pressing
Cellar
Bottling
Pruning
Budburst
Harvest
Pressing
Cellar
Bottling
// The wines
Eight wines, each from its own corner of the hill
Reds from the warm upper slope, whites from the cool valley floor and sparkling wines that rest for years in the coldest part of the cellar.
All wines
// A year in the vineyard
Four seasons, one slow rhythm
Wine is mostly patience. Here is what happens on the hill between one harvest and the next, and when each season is the best time to visit.
01
Winter
02
Spring
03
Summer
04
Autumn
December to February
Pruning and rest
The vines are bare and the work is slow. We prune every plant by hand, choosing the two canes that will carry next year's fruit, and spread compost between the rows.
Hand pruning, cane by cane
Compost and cover crops sown
Last year's reds rest in barrel
// Visit the estate
Come for a glass, stay for the afternoon
Three ways to spend time with us, from a quick seated tasting to a long lunch in the rows. All visits are small and booked ahead.
// From vine to bottle
Four slow steps, no shortcuts
01
Pick
Each block is tasted daily and picked by hand at first light into twelve kilo crates.
02
Sort and press
Four people sort every bunch on a slow table before a gentle press or open vat.
03
Ferment
Native yeasts only, in steel for whites and open wooden vats for reds.
04
Rest
Ten to thirty months in older oak or on lees, then bottled unfined.
1987
First vines planted
42 ha
Under vine
6
Grape varieties
// Guest notes
What our visitors take home
// Journal
Notes from the vineyard and cellar
Pruning, harvest days, food pairings and the small decisions that shape each vintage, written by the people who make them.
Read the journal
// Book a visit
The cellar door is open Wednesday to Sunday
Seated tastings, vineyard walks and long lunches for small groups. Tell us when you would like to come and we will hold a table.