About South Edge Vineyard
Fine Wine from Old Vines.
South Edge vineyard is set back on an elevated sloping north-facing site with a beautiful view overlooking the Alexandra basin and Clutha river. The area is known for its dry climate with hot summer days and cool nights – perfect for producing quality Pinot Noir. The vineyard soil is high in mineral and schist content, which produces concentrated flavours and adds complexity to the wines.
South Edge vineyard is set back on an elevated sloping north-facing site with a beautiful view overlooking the Alexandra basin and Clutha river. The area is known for its dry climate with hot summer days and cool nights – perfect for producing quality Pinot Noir. The vineyard soil is high in mineral and schist content, which produces concentrated flavours and adds complexity to the wines.
The vines on the South Edge Vineyard site were originally planted in the late 1980’s by local wine pioneer Ken Boddy - making it one of the first vineyards in the Alexandra basin and Central Otago. In the following years a number of other neighbouring vineyards were established along the same ridge, including Grasshopper Rock and Two Paddocks’ Last Chance vineyard. These vineyards are among the most southernmost vineyards in the world.
The original South Edge vineyard was planted with a number of different varieties, including Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, and even the Austrian Scheurebe grape and French Arboriou. The vineyard was purchased in 2019 by Keith Petrie and Elizabeth Broadbent who built a new house on the site and have focused on producing high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines by using existing old vines or grafting these varieties on to the old vines to take advantage of their existing deep root structures.
Keith and Elizabeth enlisted Grape Vision and Contrax Earthworks to help revitalise and remodel the vineyard. They have also contracted award-winning winemaker Matt Connell to make the new vintage Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. Limited numbers of the first Pinot Noir vintage will be available in 2022 with Chardonnay available in 2023.