The harvest decisions at Matawhero are made after the winemaker and the viticulturist concur that the grapes are flavour ready. Harvested in the cool of the morning to retain the delicate Pinot Noir flavours, the fruit for this wine reached lovely ripeness after another warm summer in Gisborne. The fruit was destemmed to traditional open topped fermenters. 40 % of the free run juice was drained off for Rosé and the rest of the juice was inoculated with D254 yeast. Pumped over twice daily for about 4 days to reach 5 brix, the juice was kept cold to allow flavour pick up before undergoing warm fermentation. The wine was then settled and racked and inoculated for full malolactic fermentation in tank and some oak barrels to add finesse, The wine was then stabilised and bottled.