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Jack and Lois Doeven’s site in Henty was planted in the 1980s and significantly contributed to Seppelt’s sparkling programme for years. It’s a 40-hectare vineyard that lies on schist soils and is planted predominantly to Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Ray Nadeson has worked with the fruit from this revered vineyard for 20+ years and currently takes the entire Riesling and Pinot crop, as well as half the Gris. As such, Ray has a lot of input into the farming practices at the site, so yields are kept low.
With the warming climate, certain parcels of Pinot Noir at the Doeven site can be earmarked for still wine―as a point of interest, the fruit for Lethbridge’s premium Nadeson Collis sparkling programme is also sourced from this site. The clone is of Swiss origin (Mariafield), with an open bunch structure so it can ripen well in cooler climates. Ray says it’s structurally softer than MV6 and tends to be more high-toned and perfumed. The fruit is picked by hand and ferments in open-top vessels with a small portion of bunches. After a long, cool ferment (20 days) with only gentle cap work, the wine is pressed to barrel (20% new) for 11 months’ maturation.
Ray captures the essence of this wine perfectly: “The Geelong Pinots are all about slapping the base, whereas this Henty wine is more like the snap of the snare drum.” It’s full of perfume, summer berries, brown spice and earth notes, with fleshy weight and a savoury finish—cool-climate Pinot Noir in fine form.