Fruit was picked by hand on March 2, destemmed and then gravity fed to open, slate lined fermenters (kept underground, to help keep ferments under 75ºF). Most GC wines are on skins for 6-7 days, where pump-over occurs 3 times daily, with a soft splash technique. The aim is for soft, integrated tannins rather than grippy tannin profiles. Malolactic fermentation is started 2 days into the alcoholic fermentation in order to have this completed early in the process. A 3T basket press is used for all the pressing – it has traditional wooden slates that are wax coated yearly. Pressing time is fairly brief – in order to refrain from drawing bitter tasting juice. Free-run juice, along with pressings are then gravity feed into 5000L underground tank to be combined with the drained off juice. This is then transferred to SS tanks for 2 days, to settle the heavy lees. Following this, the wine was matured in 20% new French oak and the balance seasoned American oak for 20 months. The wine was then bottled, unfiltered and unfined.

The growing season started with lower than average spring rainfalls, which became progressively drier through summer and early autumn. March rainfall totaled just 3mm, approximately 10% of the longer term average. Spring frosts and windy conditions reduced yields, which was further compounded by above average temperatures in all months with the exception of a slightly cooler February which alleviated vine stress.