Polo Field

Overview

The four-acre Polo Field has played a long game. At the turn of the last century, its free draining properties were recognised by Hyde Racing Stables, and the land was used as winter gallop. It was later rejuvenated as a polo pitch with the arrival of the Bunker family in the 1980s.

A shallow layer of loam disguises the fact that this vineyard sits on a deep deposit of sand and gravel. This is the driest of the Danbury Ridge vineyards, maybe too dry in the early years of establishment, when young vines are made to struggle hard for water and we are made to wait an extra year or two to reach a harvestable yield.

The lightness of the soil causes large diurnal temperature swings. From June to September, daytime temperatures peak 2-3 Degrees above the surrounding countryside. The downside of all this high-summer warmth comes in April and May when Polo Field is the most frost prone of the estate vineyards.

Lighting frost bougies in the spring you ask yourself, “Why do I do this?” The answer comes in the autumn, when a light crop of small jewel-like berries and bunches provides the winery with its most fragrant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit.
Key Information

Planted: 2018
Total acreage: 3.93 (1.6 hectares)
Varieties: Pinot Noir 50%, Chardonnay 50%
Trellis system: single guyot VSP