Site

Coxs’ Vineyard and Tasting Room is on a sheltered, north-facing slope accessed from the Gibbston Back Road, 30 minutes from Queenstown. For 24 years, this perfectly positioned vineyard has produced world-renowned Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes. The site provides an ideal combination of soil, climate and position. We credit these features for the quality and complexity in our wine that is often hard to achieve from a single vineyard.

Soil

Coxs’ Vineyard sits above a deep layer of outwash gravels deposited by the glacial activity that formed the Wakatipu Basin. On most of the vineyard, a thin layer of organic topsoil sits directly on top of the gravels with some areas having a layer of loess which was formed by wind-blown dust left behind by retreating glaciers. These predominantly light soils promote an ideal balance between vegetative growth and fruit growth, creating a prefect balance between fruit quality and vine health.

The result is the ability to harvest fruit that is ripe both in terms of sugar and physiology, whilst providing levels of acidity that not only give a freshness to the wine but also preserves the condition of the fruit and the ferment.

Climate

Pinot Noir is a difficult grape to grow, it requires a long growing season for the physiological or phenolic ripeness of the skins, seeds and stalks to keep up with sugar production. Central Otago provides this mainly with the cooler nights it experiences, but this climate comes with major challenges.

Frosts in spring can destroy young shoots decreasing crop potential and quality where later secondary shoots are relied upon. In the worst events, a season may be deemed to be unviable. In this instance the vineyard would not be cropped but would still require substantial input to keep it healthy for the following season but with no return. Autumn frosts can cut the growing season short by killing the leaf canopy, which means no photosynthesis, no more sugar and potentially inferior quality wine.

Being one of the world’s southernmost growing regions, Gibbston is generally a little cooler than the rest of Central Otago. When the fruit here reaches the required sugar levels, it has taken a long time to get there. This is one of the reasons why Gibbston has, over the years, created some of the worlds best Pinot Noirs.

Position

Being so close to the edge of what is viable, site is crucial. Coxs’ Vineyard is in a position where vulnerability to the cold is minimised by our ideal altitude and topography. We are elevated from the valley floor which naturally accumulates cooler air, but are not so high as to experience the cooling effects of altitude. During frost events, the cold air tends to drain off our sloped vineyard letting the warm air above the inversion layer descend, raising the temperature slightly.

The North East facing slope of the vineyard takes maximum advantage of the sun whilst providing some protection from the cooling effect of the prevailing westerly wind which can also stress vines and break young shoots.