Vineyard Article
Clayvin Vineyard
Last edited on 5/23/2020 by LindsayM
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Article by Jamie Goode 4 Jan 2018
The third stop was Clayvin, one of the regions most famous vineyards. This was the first close-planted, hillside vineyard in Marlborough and was established in 1991 by Mike Eaton, who’d spent time in Burgundy. He came back and found this land at the end of the Brancott Valley, and purchased it very cheaply off the Hille family. Mike planted the vineyard mostly with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on a shoestring budget, with ungrafted vines. However, phylloxera struck in 1994, which is also the year the first wines were made from the vineyard. This meant it had to be replanted, and the financial stress this caused meant that in the end Mike had to sell to George Fromm and Lay & Wheeler (UK wine merchant) in 1999. George sold his interest and moved back to Switzerland around 2010, and with the vineyard managed by absentee owners, it wasn’t in the best of shape. In 2011/12 Giesen made Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah from here. ‘We got interested in the vineyard and could see the potential,’ says Marcel. ‘It had always been talked about, but the wines were often tight and needed time to open out. There are some distinct characters on this site: you can pick quite early because the fruit doesn’t need high brix to shine, the pH in the must is low, and the tannins have a nice quality to them.’
But with a change of ownership in 2014 things got a bit rocky. The irrigation system was a mess and the vines weren’t performing to their potential. So in 2014 Giesen signed a lease to manage the vineyard for 10 years, and brought in biodynamic expert Kurt Simcic to help get things back in balance. ‘Now it’s better managed there’s a much nice shape to the tannins,’ says Marcel. ‘They aren’t stress related.’ In 2015 Giesen had the opportunity to buy the vineyard, which they did. ‘When we took over the weeds were right in the fruiting zone, and there was no undervine weeding equipment.’ Now they have a Geier crawler, which is a narrow tractor with caterpillar tracks that weighs just 1.1. tons (versus 2.5 tons for their previous tractor), and which exerts a downward pressure of just 60 kg, avoiding compaction.
The third stop was Clayvin, one of the regions most famous vineyards. This was the first close-planted, hillside vineyard in Marlborough and was established in 1991 by Mike Eaton, who’d spent time in Burgundy. He came back and found this land at the end of the Brancott Valley, and purchased it very cheaply off the Hille family. Mike planted the vineyard mostly with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on a shoestring budget, with ungrafted vines. However, phylloxera struck in 1994, which is also the year the first wines were made from the vineyard. This meant it had to be replanted, and the financial stress this caused meant that in the end Mike had to sell to George Fromm and Lay & Wheeler (UK wine merchant) in 1999. George sold his interest and moved back to Switzerland around 2010, and with the vineyard managed by absentee owners, it wasn’t in the best of shape. In 2011/12 Giesen made Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah from here. ‘We got interested in the vineyard and could see the potential,’ says Marcel. ‘It had always been talked about, but the wines were often tight and needed time to open out. There are some distinct characters on this site: you can pick quite early because the fruit doesn’t need high brix to shine, the pH in the must is low, and the tannins have a nice quality to them.’
But with a change of ownership in 2014 things got a bit rocky. The irrigation system was a mess and the vines weren’t performing to their potential. So in 2014 Giesen signed a lease to manage the vineyard for 10 years, and brought in biodynamic expert Kurt Simcic to help get things back in balance. ‘Now it’s better managed there’s a much nice shape to the tannins,’ says Marcel. ‘They aren’t stress related.’ In 2015 Giesen had the opportunity to buy the vineyard, which they did. ‘When we took over the weeds were right in the fruiting zone, and there was no undervine weeding equipment.’ Now they have a Geier crawler, which is a narrow tractor with caterpillar tracks that weighs just 1.1. tons (versus 2.5 tons for their previous tractor), and which exerts a downward pressure of just 60 kg, avoiding compaction.