The vintage of 2023 was a challenging year climatically, very wet, and humid with low sunshine hours and periods of intense rain culminating in flooding in late January and Cyclone Gabrielle in early February. The weather improved for the harvest months, but low sunshine hours resulted in wines with a light elegant touch, fresh and lively and delicious in their delicacy. The Exiled Pinot Gris is made from fruit sourced from vineyards on both Waiheke and Ponui Islands. Fruit for the Exiled is riper and more advanced in flavour development than the Estate Pinot Gris but essentially the winemaking process is the same; macerated fruit pressed to tank with cloudy juice taken into ferment with a mixture of cultivated and ‘wild’ yeasts. The ferments are stopped when the balance of sugar, acid, tannin, and alcohol are achieved. Natural sugar and carbon dioxide from the fermentation are retained in the wine.