Orbis Moderandi

Orbis Moderandi is produced by Hunter’s Estate in the Waihopai Valley of Marlborough. Peter and James MacDonald are its winemakers.

Its wines include a Pinot Noir made from sustainably farmed estate fruit. The vines for this wine were planted around 2000 in free-draining alluvial soils with a high gravel and clay content. After hand harvesting from a single block, the grapes spend 10 days on their skins, with two or three pumpovers to limit tannin extraction. The wine is then drained by gravity into stainless steel to finish its first fermentation. It is bottled with about 10 grams per litre of residual sugar for a second fermentation in the bottle. No sulfur dioxide is used, and production totals 10,000 bottles.