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ABOUT OUR WINEMAKING

Kevin’s winemaking philosophy is based on absolute respect for terroir. He was asked in 2004 to describe that philosophy. By reference to his name, he explained that winemaking was a search for truth:

“Bell is my name and I am therefore descended from artisans. The artisans crafted things of particular function and intrinsic beauty, using natural materials and traditional methods. The function of wine is to bring joy to the world. The intrinsic beauty of Pinot Noir is a pure expression of the true character of its growing space and time. My natural materials are the fruits and yeasts of the grapevine of one such space, Hurley Vineyard. My methods are those traditionally employed by generations of winemakers. My philosophy, therefore, is to bring joy to the world by making Pinot Noir with gentility and respect, Pinot Noir that expresses the same pure truth as the peal of a bell.”

The winemaking process at Hurley Vineyard begins with the harvest. The fruit is picked by hand by the Friends of Hurley Vineyard. It is taken in shallow trays to the winery on site immediately after picking. Triage (sorting) is conducted on the vines. This approach, and the role of the Friends, is fundamental to the quality of the final wine.

The fruit from Lodestone, Garamond and Homage is separately fermented and elevated in French Oak barrels.

The winery is quite big enough for our needs (up to 30 tonne crush) and is set up for a gravity operation. We have stainless steel fermentation vats of 2500L and a holding tank of about 3000L. We use a simple destemmer. We consider crushing to be too course. The must is pumped to tanks on

stands with a small mono-pump. This is the last machine pumping it will see. The wine is transferred by gravity from tank to barrel after settling. All other transfers are by traditional Burgundian hand pump through the lower bung hole of the barrels or by gravity from barrel or tank on stands. Thus the wine itself is not machine-pumped. Kevin learnt this technique from Burgundian winemakers, and purchased the traditional equipment, during his visit to Burgundy in 2002, in time for the bottling of the 2001 vintage. This method is adopted to protect and optimise the suppleness and texture of the wine.

Kevin adds the following to the fermenting must: nitrogen (as DAP) to provide nutrients for the yeast; sulphur dioxide (as PMS) to protect the must against oxidation until the fermentation begins, to delay the onset of that fermentation and to ensure that favourable wild yeast species carry it out; pectic enzyme to enhance wine clarity. The must is acidified only if absolutely necessary.

He allows a natural cold soak of about 5 days. It usually takes this long for the primary fermentation to begin with the wild yeast. During this period wonderfully subtle aromas and flavours develop.

He plunges three times daily once the fermentation begins to bring the juice into contact with the skins. The vats are cooled as necessary with water circulated through an external second skin so that the fermentation does not get too hot. The total vat time is 17-21 days, including about 5 days post-fermentation maceration on skins. The post-fermentation maceration is allowed so that the wine flavours can intensify and the tannins soften, but the duration of this period is a matter for fine judgement. Kevin presses with an 800L wooden basket press.

Primary fermentation in barrel is not encouraged at this stage as the resulting mocca and other dark characters can be unacceptably strong. The wine undergoes long and slow malolactic fermentation in barrel by the action of indigenous bacteria which rounds and softens the wine, often imparting a certain creaminess to the mid-palate. This is not usually complete until the autumn following the vintage. The wine is not racked after malolactic fermentation until bottling. The wine is bottled under gravity after about 18 months in French oak (about 25% of which is new) without any filtration but may be lightly fined with egg white. Sulfur dioxide is added (as PMS) prior to bottling to 20-30 ppm free.