Learning By Doing
I have just returned from a month in New Zealand, working the vintage in Central Otago, helping to make organic Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris (classically and also skin contact) at Aurum Wines.
Why did I choose to work at Aurum? — My wife and I visited Aurum a few years back and brought home two bottles of the 2012 Mathilde. We opened a first bottle a few months later, and I can still taste it today. The purity of fruit was astonishing, with seamlessly integrated oak and sweet spice, and a gentle undercurrent of savoury notes — earth, coffee, and mushroom. I vividly remember Tony (the father) talking about use of whole bunches and stems in the wine, how they gave greater finesse to the tannins and complexity to the wine as a whole.
Forget the intellectualisation of my description above. This wine was one that made me feel something, it quieted and decluttered my mind, yet somehow simultaneously sent shockwaves through my whole body. Just putting my nose in the glass, the aromas brought an involuntary smile to my face. I could feel my pupils dilating, and the hair on my arms standing on end. I felt compelled to sit up straight, shocked by the awe and wonder that hit me as i drank this wine. It was a seminal moment, the first time a wine made me feel as much as taste.

As the vineyard is being established, one of my goals is to spend time learning the craft of winemaking from the people I admire most. I want to see how the best make wine in their own way. From working in kitchens I’ve learned that each action is a reflection of a restaurant’s culture, attitude and philosophy. From the big stylistic decisions to the details of organisation, cleaning and hygiene. I know this to be true for the best wineries as well. But more than any of that, I want to learn to make wine that made me feel as I did on that first sip.
I am eternally grateful to Lucie and Brook at Aurum for taking me on this past vintage, for their patience with my never ending stream of questions, for sharing their passion, knowledge and experience. As they are a husband and wife team with no other employees, I got to experience almost all aspects of work in the winery and vineyard. Much of my job revolved around cleaning, but they allowed me to do work in the lab, monitoring ferments, punchdowns, foot trampling, filling barrels, crushing, pressing, and even pick my own fruit and make a little wine! I got to witness and experience first hand what it takes to make wine with only quality in mind.
A few things I learned from my vintage experience:
- The importance of quality fruit cannot be overstated. You can make bad wine from good fruit, but there is no way to make good wine from bad fruit.
- The importance of attitude — always strive to grow the best fruit, to make the best wine, to never compromise.
- One must have a very defined idea, and sense of confidence in what one wants to achieve in the winemaking process
- Always try to learn and explore, design trials every vintage to gain better a understanding of how each process affects the end product.
- Having the confidence to do less, rather than too much. Having the confidence to pick earlier, to not use enzymes, not fine, not filter, not inoculate for primary or secondary ferments, etc.
- The importance of hygiene and cleanliness in the winery. Much like a kitchen, keeping the winery clean and organised, keeps your wine clean and your brain organised. Clean relentlessly — 99% of winemaking is cleaning.
- To punchdown gently, just enough to wet the cap! Never hit the bottom to avoid breaking the seeds.
- Compared to 2 years ago, I saw Central Otago’s best producers finding confidence, and settling into their own style (not trying to be burgundy), a style that reflects specifics of their climate, soil, and place. (40% more solar radiation than Europe, super dry, schist)
- That oak can hide both bad and good qualities in a wine. I had the pleasure of tasting a cuvee of Pinot from two different years during this trip. The older vintage had 10% more new oak, around 25% total. I loved it, it had a seductive sweet spice, the oak was gentle and seamlessly integrated, I thought, framing the fruit in a very pretty way. I also loved the younger vintage — surprisingly it was more complex, showing greater depth from increased savoury and earthy notes. Lucie and Brook wanted to see less oak as the resulting wine was more transparent. That not only was their less oak flavour, but also that one could more clearly experience the wine for all its complexity and depth (what I perceived to be the savoury and earthy notes). Although the new oak was never overpowering, and gave a lovely dry sweetness to their Pinot, I think their decision to try less oak was the right one.
- Quality and Premium is the way to go. Big producers with tons of cash have already built massive factory wineries to produce cheap wine throughout the world. Make the best possible wine you can, and eventually you will be rewarded.
- Explore subregions to compare the impact of site vs winemaking (all things treated and done the same).
- Focus — when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he slashed product lines and focused the company on a four product matrix — desktop/portable, consumer/pro. I originally wanted to plant Nebbiolo, Syrah and Chenin Blanc as well, to see what would work out in the region. Upon further reflection, I know that my passion lies in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and I want to dedicate my focus to learning these varietals, and making the best possible expression of Yunnan Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (and a tiny bit of riesling).
- To spend time with the wine, to learn its character, its progression, always smelling, always tasting, committing it all to memory. To care for the product, and to give love to your work.
- That perhaps the hardest part of making wine is selling it.
There is so much I could write about my harvest experience, but I will just focus on three major aspects of my time below.
- Picking, the vintage condition
2017 was a strange year, with an unusually cold summer, followed by a short burst of sudden warmth before harvest. Aurum’s fruit quickly hit 23 brix, and they made the decisive decision to pick immediately. I believe we had a total of 2 bunches with powdery mildew, but that was it. However, due to the cold, bunches were much smaller, and crop levels were down roughly 25% (which is very expensive).

Picking was hard — exhausting but exhilarating. As there was little to no disease, we didn’t have to examine each bunch as they came off the vine. This left me trying to keep up with a seasoned group of Chilean horticultural students picking at a breakneck pace; at times it felt like we were picking as we jogged. We ended up, on average, picking a tonne per person/day. I got to taste a little as i went, comparing clones and varieties — the cool, pure sweetness of Pinot 667, the overpowering flavour of quince in Pinot Gris, and the electric acidity of Pinot Noir Abel. I got a sense of why the winemaker chose to pick, what they were looking for, in both flavour and stem ripeness.
The quality of fruit meant that there basically weren’t any adjustments to be made — the winemaker only added acid to Madeleine, as the potassium in the stems (100% whole bunch) absorbed some acid once berries had been crushed. Acid was added only to bring the level back to the original pH at picking, which in my mind is about restoring balance instead of tampering with it. None of the reds were sulphured (they will get a dose before bottling); everything done with care and a hands off approach — a winemaking decision in itself.

- 100% whole bunch Pinot Noir, cuvee “Madeleine”
Once the fruit had been crushed and put in tank (or in barrel for the chardonnay), my days began with punching down the Pinot, and then taking brix and temperature measurements for all the wine to monitor ferments as they progressed. It was amazing to smell and taste the wine as it worked its way through fermentation. The unfermented juice was intense and delicious — sweet, luscious and rich.
As fermentation began the wine came alive, at first refreshing, then more complex and brooding as the yeasts consumed more and more sugar. Fruity fragrances became augmented by floral, spice and coffee like scents as the ferments went on and grew warmer. As I tasted the same wine from previous vintages, I recognised smells and almost a recognisable personality that mirrored the fermenting wine still in tank.

- brix and temperature measurements
Once we reached 0 brix on the Pinot, we stopped punching down (Francois Millet’s suggestion — more below). Instead, we filled watering cans full of wine, gently misting the cap, keeping it moist, and minimising extraction.
The saying that 99% of winemaking is cleaning is certainly true. Hygiene and careful handling of wine can be the difference between a good and bad wine. Boy, did I do a lot of cleaning. No complaints though, I am one that finds repetition in cleaning quieting and meditative. There’s no question that winemaking is hard work, but there’s a point to all of it — it all adds up to a better end product. The best chefs and cooks pride themselves on their organisation and ability to work very clean. Those two things go hand in hand. Much like a kitchen, keeping the winery clean and organised, keeps your wine clean and your brain organised.

- shovelling out my first tank
I even had the pleasure of cooking for the family on three occasions — Miso Ramen, Short Rib Tacos and Steak.



2. Francois millet visit/ pressing off young vines
I had the amazing opportunity to spend two days with Francois Millet, winemaker/technical director at Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue in Burgundy for the last 30 years. He came by Aurum on a larger trip to Central Otago to visit and survey the new vintage, just as the two tanks of young vine pinot were finishing their ferments. Lucie, our winemaker, had taken all the young vine fruit and separated them into two exact batches, clonal percentages, weight, everything. The purpose of this was to try to create two identical ferments, then vary the length of post ferment maceration. Lucie wanted to examine how post ferment maceration affects mouthfeel, tannin, colour and structure, but also to better understand what she is looking for in maceration, as well as more precise sense of when to stop and press off the wine.
As we tasted through samples of all the different Pinot still in ferment, Francois shared his impressions of each wine, specifically on the two tanks of young vine Pinot. Through his own trials, Francois has come to the belief that post ferment maceration (specifically the resulting phenolic extraction, and tannin polymerisation) begins at 1000 Gravity, or 0 Brix, due in part to the amount of alcohol in the wine, and the alcohol solubility of the extractable material.
His recommendation — no more punchdowns after 0 brix is reached, as tannins (and bitterness from seeds) are too easily extracted at this point, and can become rough. Low risk of VA as there is still much gas production beneath the cap. To keep length short, as bad and green tannins can also polymerise during this period.
If pressed before total dryness (as to avoid green tannin polymerisation/ green phenolic extraction), extended decanting time is recommended to ensure wine is dry when transferred to barrel.
He recommends extended decanting time 3 days+ (especially if any strange flavours are present), to help drop out more solids (gross lees), putting a clearer wine into barrel, which will help if not filtering.
Francois came back on the day we pressed the tanks of young vine pinot — by hand in a traditional basket press.

- Pressing off the young vines old school
At one point, Francois looked admiringly at Aurum’s basket press and said to me, “Basket presses are the reference” — aka the OG press, certainly the most gentle. I learned that pressing slowly, with occasional pauses, in a basket press allows the juice to filter slowly through the skins, removing solids naturally, and avoiding seed damage (and bitterness).
My favourite moment was as we tasted wine from the press, Francois gave an analogy to describe the importance of press wine vis a vis structure. Free run is mother, and the press wine is father — a child needs both. Keep tasting press wine as it comes out in cycles. Sometimes, the father is no good. In those moments, chuck him.
What sticks with me from Francois’ visit is as much the depth of his knowledge as was his sense of calm and familiarity with Pinot Noir. It was as though he and Pinot Noir were old friends, meeting in Central Otago to explore a new place.

- “Fruit Cake”
3. Getting to pick my own fruit
Brook and Lucie were very kind to allow me to go through the vineyard and pick any ripe fruit that was missed.
On April 19th I picked roughly 12 kilos of fruit, 85% Pinot Noir, 14% Pinot Gris, 1% Pinot Blanc, a Pinot family Passetoutgrain if you will. Both the Pinot Noir and Blanc were left in whole bunches as I thought the stems tasted pleasant and ripe, and the Gris I hand destemmed to leave whole berries intact. I left the grapes uncrushed for 5 days to encourage a small amount of intracellular fermentation, with a blanket of liquid Co2 to keep the grapes cool. I’ll be leaving it with them to monitor the primary and malolactic fermentations through the year, and I’ll check in on its readiness when I return this december. I will certainly never forget the moment as I unscrewed the lid,aw the magenta foam gently fizzing away, and knew my first wild fermentation had started off on its own.
24/4 Crushed and warmed overnight — 22 brix 3.5 pH
26/4 Juice warmed again — 21.74 brix 14 degrees C, “pigeage” with hands, gently just to wet the cap
27/4 Wild fermentation begins, visibly foamy and fizzing
28/4 19.69 brix, 16.5 degrees C, moved to a warmed storage room to bring temperatures up.
Conclusion
I’ve come away really inspired to develop an expression of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling that is unique and true to Yunnan.
I believe that food is the truest expression of the soul of a place. Not every place grows wine, but every place has its own food. Food is an interaction between the people of the place, and the things that grow. Cuisine local to each region evolves over centuries, it evolves around necessity, what is local, and around the different people who leave their imprint upon the region. Food is shaped by people and it shapes them in turn — their experiences, their memories, their bodies. As a chef, I look to food for inspiration on how best to reflect our region.
The food of Yunnan is playful, it’s fragrant, it can be bright, it can be earthy, it can be both and ever changing. The flavours and produce I most associate with Yunnan are Melon Shoots, Lime, Mint, Potatoes, Ceps, Porcinis, Pine, Sichuan Peppercorn, Chili, Garlic and Fermented Tofu. These are intensely flavourful and textural products, but Yunnan doesn’t make heavy food. Even the humble potato, we make light and playful — shredded, spiced, or mashed. The food of Yunnan is always balanced, enlivened with spice, vinegar, lime, and herbs; intense but spritely at the same time. The wine of this region should reflect that character. It must be a wine with intensity, but at the same time bright, lively, and electric. There is so much love and joy in the food of Yunnan, so much respect for the earth and what it provides. I take inspiration from all of it.
I’ve always enjoyed Central Otago Pinot, but now I love it. I don’t drink it as a less expensive alternative to Burgundy, but for its own qualities and personality. On my last night in Queenstown, my family and I shared a bottle of 1998 Domaine Jamet, our only non local wine of the trip. What stuck out in the Jamet was an intense and lively acid spine and savoury umami depth. The wine felt alive, with a pulsating energy, things that I find in so much of the food in Yunnan. The wine was beautiful in itself, but by contrasting it to the Central Pinot I had enjoyed, the Jamet reminded me of home. It helped me realise that I don’t want to make wine that mimic the wine of any other place, but be true to our little corner of the world.

What’s next? As I write this, I’m arranging and negotiating the purchase of trellising equipment — steel posts, wires, strainers, pliers, this list goes on…..
I’ve placed our order and deposits for deliveries of vines from three different Chinese nurseries.
We’re headed down to Yunnan at the end of this month to plant! With luck, our experimental block will be planted, with a fully installed trellising system by the end of June. More on that next time.