It's a long way from the Isle of Man to Bendigo and much as the Kerruish family is looking forward to the trip, they are not holding their breaths. Theirs is yet another story of how covid has irrevocably changed lives in unforeseen ways. A trip to Europe with their children before covid saw them locked down on Tim Kerruish's home on the Isle of Man during the early days of the pandemic and they remain on the isle today. Fast forward two years and they have secured work there, so coming back to New Zealand has become more complicated, even with the lure of their vineyard in Bendigo, Central Otago.
They named their vineyard, evocatively, Folding Hill. The site is home to Pinot Noir, a little Chardonnay and a few rows of old fashioned cider apples - "to make the real kind of cider; the real way, with apples rather than sugar," says Kerruish.
This is their latest wine.
Wine of the week
18.5/20
2020 Folding Hill Bendigo Pinot Noir RRP $45
Bold bright berries and cherries are the story of this wine's lush, plush, silky smooth flavours and piercing concentration - it's one of the best Pinots made each year in Central Otago and comes from the hot, dry region of Bendigo, north east of Lake Dunstan. Hand picked grapes from the hot and dry 2020 vintage went into this Pinot Noir made from a blend of Pinot Noir grapes grown on the four hectare Folding Hill vineyard (Pinot clones 5/6, Abel and a mix of Dijons). A combination of wild and inoculated yeasts were used to ferment the juice followed by 10 month ageing in Francois Frère medium toast barriques, 25% new. It was bottled unfiltered, unfined and sealed with a screwcap.
