Prophets Rock

The Free Bacchus Story

The Home Vineyard sits on a north-facing terrace in the hills of Bendigo, in Central Otago, on schist and quartz over clay, with low rainfall and a very large gap between daytime and night-time temperatures. Those conditions make organic farming practically sensible rather than merely admirable — the disease pressure that defeats growers in damper places is largely absent.

Prophets Rock farms it under BioGro certified organic standards, quietly, at a scale that has never generated the commercial profile of the larger Otago operations. Paul Pujol, who began in New Zealand at Seresin in Marlborough, brings a Burgundian precision in the cellar that suits what the site already provides.

Paul Pujol worked in the Languedoc, in Sancerre and at Maison Kuentz-Bas in Alsace before returning to New Zealand in 2005. Cuvée Aux Antipodes is made with François Millet, for thirty-five vintages the winemaker at Comte Georges de Vogüé in Chambolle-Musigny.

The Pinot Noir has drawn 96 points from Wine Advocate, and the Dry Riesling, an unusual choice for Central Otago, is regularly cited as among the most interesting whites in the region. Retrospect, six barrels of Home Vineyard Pinot released at least five years after the vintage, is the rarest thing the estate makes.

Sold mostly on allocation domestically and through specialist importers abroad, it is among the better-value wines we list relative to its critical standing. Quiet producers in unfashionable sub-regions are generally where the value has gone.