The Donaldson Family traces its Kiwi roots back about 1000 years.  In keeping with this we have chosen to honour this special New Zealand wine with an ancestral name.

Cool weather in late spring, during the flowering period of the vines, interfered with pollination and lead to a natural reduction in the crop level. In spite of this we rigorously hand thinned and removed any fruit which was lagging behind the rest when the grapes were ripening. Hence we reduced our crop even further. The summer and autumn were excellent and we were able to pick grapes that were perfectly physiologically ripe.

The Donaldson Family traces its Kiwi roots back about 1000 years. In keeping with this we have chosen to honour this special New Zealand wine with an ancestral name.

The growing season was a little longer than usual as mild spring weather resulted in early bud burst. Although this was followed by warm days the nights were cool preventing excessively rapid growth and development. There was good accumulation of summer heat and the autumn was long and dry. Harvest was as usual in late March and April. The extra time on the vines without excessive heat resulted in fruit that was beautifully physiologically ripe when picked, but yet had good levels of natural acidity.

Cold weather over the period when the vines were in bloom meant that many flowers did not become fertilised and the eventual crop was small. The summer, however, was hot and the autumn was long, lingering and dry. We were thus able to harvest beautifully ripe, healthy fruit. The berry size in this vintage was smaller than usual, which along with the low crop level, has resulted in the wine having good concentration.

The summer was warm, but not excessively hot, which favoured the development of true varietal pinot noir characters in this naturally cool climate variety. Low crop levels ensured good concentration in the wine.