Prophets Rock
Two vineyards were established in the Bendigo sub-region: The Prophet’s Rock Home Vineyard and, subsequently, the Rocky Point. Both are steep and elevated, and each is distinctive – The Home Vineyard with its rare mix of soils, including schist, clay and chalk, and Rocky Point with its stony ground and almost treacherous slopes.
Step into the winery though and it's almost like stepping into one of the old houses of Europe. Winemaker Paul Pujol refined his trade working in France’s classical wine regions, the Languedoc, Sancerre and, crucially, Burgundy and Alsace. His traditional aesthetic — respectful, patient, vineyard-focused – resonates in the Prophet’s Rock wines, and frees them to express the uniqueness of the individual terroirs.
The Prophet’s Rock philosophy centres around combining both the old world and the new; “past and present unified by place”. Prophet’s Rock are also committed to sustainable wine production with the vines sitting comfortably in the natural environment that surrounds them. Prophet’s Rock is also a member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand.
With the vineyard producing low yield yet highly concentrated flavourful fruit, their efforts truly shine in the vineyard with harvesting undertaken completely by hand.
Their Pinot Gris and Riesling are slowly and gently whole-bunch pressed, followed by long slow ferments in barrel and aging on yeast lees prior to bottling before the next harvest. The Pinot Noir requires minimal extraction due to the extraordinary concentration of the fruit, and is fermented using only indigenous yeast from the vineyard. In barrel, the wines go through spontaneous malolactic fermentation and extended élevage. In the case of Prophet’s Rock, our Pinot Noir is bottled unfiltered and cellared before release.
"When we founded Prophet’s Rock in 1999, our goal was to find sites in Central Otago like no others. Two vineyards were established in the Bendigo sub-region: The Prophet’s Rock Home Vineyard and, subsequently, the Rocky Point. Both are steep and elevated, and each is distinctive – The Home Vineyard with its rare mix of soils, including schist, clay and chalk, and Rocky Point with its stony ground and almost treacherous slopes.
In the winery, though, we find our muses in the old houses of Europe. Winemaker Paul Pujol refined his trade working in France’s classical wine regions, the Languedoc, Sancerre and, crucially, Burgundy and Alsace. His traditional aesthetic — respectful, patient, vineyard-focused – resonates in our wines, and frees them to express the unique tenor of our sites." - Prophet's Rock
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