Autumn is the season when Central Otago viticulturists are in the thick of harvest and new vintages are being released onto the market. No5 Church Lane exclusively presents Central Otago and South Island vintages and food and beverage manager, Sean White, says it’s an exciting time of year.

“Our house wine, Domaine Thomson is one of Central Otago’s most celebrated, with their vineyard located on a spectacular elevated site above the Cromwell basin overlooking Lake Dunstan,” says Sean. “They grow only one variety – a ‘single vineyard’ Pinot Noir. Their mixture of David and Dijon Pinot Noir clones were first planted back in 2000 and most of the work on the vines is executed by hand including ‘hand harvesting’ to preserve the quality of the fruit.”