Transforming an old limestone quarry into a vineyard has been a labour of love for Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen.
Their viticultural journey at Bell Hill in North Canterbury began in 1997 and now several blocks of established grapevines grow with little intervention on hills surrounding the limeworks.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Bell Hill itself, so named for its bell-like shape on its southern side, was first surveyed in 1917 by Charles Trounce who went on to establish an agricultural lime quarry that operated until the late 1930s.
"For us, it was trying to explore the uniqueness of limestone and what it can do once you put grapevines onto it and how the wine expresses that interaction with the soil," says Marcel.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Over the years the couple has planted many hundreds of native plants and trees across the 62 hectares property to bring back a diversity of vegetation on what was once bare land.
"It's not just about farming, it's actually about how you live, what you're looking at and embracing the other elements of nature as well, " Sherwyn says.
The vineyard architecture also pays homage to the grape-growing traditions of the Burgundy region in France, where the couple has visited regularly.
"Burgundy is like an onion, layer after layer gets revealed over years of time and you start to understand the history that it's steeped in," says Marcel.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
These winegrowers produce terroir wines and have just finished putting in 4800 new pinot noir and chardonnay vines.
Terroir relates the sensory attributes of wine to the environmental conditions in which the grapes are grown.
"With each of the blocks we've got here we've got that variation of soil type which gives us different elements in the wine," Sherwyn says.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Marcel says that over the last 15 years they have seen a distinct character in the wines that can only be described as coming from the Bell Hill site.
"We haven't got children as a couple but our children are the grapevines and they have got their own individual characteristics. All we do is squeeze the juice out as gently as possible, it goes in an oak barrel with natural yeast, then we just sit on the sideline and watch what happens!".
This year the couple claimed the coveted Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine's Viticulturist of the Year Award.
"This award validates our pioneering efforts that began in 1997, our old-school values and a continuation of tradition," Sherwyn says.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
