East-nor-east orientation, 200 metres above sea level and spanning a ridge line between Marlborough’s Omaka and Waihopai Valleys. Captures the cool morning and warm daytime sunshine ideal for long, slow ripening. Soils are older and denser than neighbouring valley floor. Loess above a clay subsoil which, at deep levels, has good water holding capacity. Planting density 4,630 vines per ha. The Clod Block is one of 17 individual vineyard blocks planted to the hillside contours by Sam and Mandy Weaver. Vine age approx. 12 years. Biodynamic farming regime. BioGro certified. Striking for its purity and immediacy, this recording of Churton is sappy and structured, with layers that build seamlessly into a velvety richness.

The grapes were hand-picked 6th April 2017, sorted into 1⁄2 ton bins and transported to the winery. One hundred percent of the fruit was de-stemmed and sorted again to a sealed tank for 5 days at ambient temperature. Piegage was employed and a spontaneous rapid ferment began, lasting 8 days. Post-fermentation the young wine rested on skins for a further 7 days prior to pressing, settling and then transferring to seasoned (second and third year) French oak barrels. There it remained for 12 months on original lees, undergoing a natural malolactic ferment during this period. Mid-April 2018 the wine was moved from barrel to tank where it remained for a further 7 months prior to being racked once more and sulphured in preparation for bottling in November 2018. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.