LAWSON’S DRY HILLS THE PIONEER PINOT GRIS 2024

Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Off dry in style our 2024 Pioneer Pinot Gris shows lifted aromas of red apples, tinned pears and a little honeycomb. The palate is weighty and textural with flavours of pears, apple crumble and Anzac biscuits. There is a spicy element, and the palate has succulent weight and richness but finishes clean and fresh.

The fruit for this wine came from just one pick from the Barnsley Block in the Waihōpai Valley. The vines were leaf-plucked and fruit-thinned several times to ensure the crop level was low, while the grapes were full of flavour and perfectly ripe.

The winemaking here was minimal. The grapes were hand-picked and gently pressed, one third into old French oak barriques for a long and slow fermentation (over six months) with wild yeasts and the rest was fermented in tank. Once we felt the wine had achieved the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, the two components were blended, filtered and bottled.

With age this wine will develop great depth and complexity. Cellar for five to ten years. Food Match A delicious pairing with flavoursome seafood, poultry, spicy foods, Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes and many different cheese styles."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, March 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"A bouquet filled with purity and freshness framed by a white spice and brown pear, white fleshed stone fruits and a definitive seam of lees complexity, a bouquet of depth and elegance. A full-bodied expression with weight and intensity of fruit, some warming alcohol and light creamy texture. Well made with flavours that reflect the bouquet, a wine to enjoy on its own or with protein rich fare. Best drinking from 2025 through 2030."