The Herd Project | Marlborough Pinot Noir Collaboration

The Herd is a collaborative Pinot Noir project inspired by shared curiosity and an ongoing quest for true expression of terroir.

Three winemakers, one vineyard, and an open invitation to explore how instinct shapes Pinot Noir. These are wines that speak the same language, but with entirely different accents.

Together, they become The Herd.

The Vineyard

The Herd wines come from a single block within the Auntsfield vineyard, set in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. This cooler, drier subregion is known for its mix of high-mineral Greywacke rock and old loess clay soils – ideal for Pinot Noir with structure, texture and a bit of edge.

The block sits on a steep, north-east-facing clay hillside, and has been certified BioGro since 2024. Two Pinot Noir clones, 777 and Abel, are planted side by side and split evenly between three collaborative winemakers from Auntsfield, Sorrell Wines and The Marlborist.

Each team takes care of their own shoot thinning, leaf plucking, fruit thinning and hand picking. All three wines are made entirely from this fruit, using a 50/50 mix of the two clones to keep the focus entirely on winemaking style rather than clonal variation.

The Name

What’s the collective noun for a group of Pinotphiles?

A Herd.

It’s a playful nod – not just to Auntsfield’s founding vigneron, David Herd, but also to the idea of being heard. Is the land being heard? The vines? The viticulturists and winemakers? Or perhaps it’s the wine itself, speaking of where it’s from.

This Pinot Noir comes from a block overlooking David Herd’s historic site – a fitting tribute to Auntsfield’s beginnings and to the ongoing conversation between place, people and Pinot.

Three wines that tell the same vineyard story, each with its own expression of terroir.