In late February, approx 65% of the Yarra Station parcel for this Pinot Gris was pressed directly to 500L old puncheons to undergo natural fermentation. This was allowed to peak at 24 degrees, and with regular lees stirring we were able to get our desired savoury edge. The remaining 35% was gently de-stemmed to open-top fermenters to get some skin contact. Natural fermentation started after a few days, when we started to push the grapes around and extract colour, flavour and tannin. After three weeks on skins the grapes were pressed direct to barrel to undergo malolactic fermentation and ageing. The Napoleone vineyard portion was hand-picked in the morning and pressed directly to 300L old oak barrels. Wild fermentation on full solids occurred over 20 days. To enhance the complex characters and mouthfeel, all wines were chilled lightly and left without sulphur until just before bottling. Blending of the three portions occurred in early July with no fining or filtration.