Why it matters
The producer
Dicey is a family-run label in Bannockburn, a small sub-district at the southern end of Central Otago's Cromwell Basin. Brothers James and Matt Dicey operate the estate, making Bannockburn Pinot Noir and Chardonnay alongside single-vineyard bottlings and a small range of alternative varieties. Their father Robin sits behind the story: he trained at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and arrived in New Zealand in 1977, when Central Otago had almost no commercial wine industry at all.
Matt worked as chief winemaker at Mt Difficulty before Dicey was launched. James came from a different direction entirely, spending ten years in accounting across multiple continents before returning to Central Otago to study viticulture. The wines are made with native yeasts, unfined and unfiltered, and the Chardonnay is barrel-fermented.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Central Otago is the world's southernmost wine region, cut through by the Kawarau and Clutha river systems and framed by the Remarkables and Pisa ranges. The climate is continental rather than maritime: hot, dry summers, cold winters, and significant day-to-night temperature swings during the growing season. That diurnal range is what keeps acidity high in ripe fruit and gives Central Otago Pinot Noir its characteristic combination of dark fruit and freshness.
Bannockburn sits on the northern bank of the Kawarau Gorge and catches some of the region's most intense afternoon sun, reflected off the schist rock faces above the river. The soils are thin and free-draining, mostly schist-derived gravels and silts, and vines have to work for moisture. Wines from Bannockburn tend to carry more weight and texture than those from cooler sub-districts like Gibbston or Wanaka, with a characteristic density of fruit and a mineral edge from the rocky ground.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The range is split between Bannockburn appellation-level wines and single-vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings: The Inlet, Black Rabbit, and Swansong. Farming is in organic transition, moving away from synthetic inputs without yet carrying a formal BioGro certification.
In the cellar, native yeasts drive fermentation, meaning each vintage follows the microbial population of the fruit rather than a predictable cultured strain. The wines are neither fined nor filtered, so nothing is stripped from the finished wine before bottling. The Chardonnay is barrel-fermented, picking up vanilla and a bready texture from oak contact alongside the fruit.
Wines to know
The range in view
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay anchor the range. The Bannockburn Chardonnay is barrel-fermented, full-bodied, and built with aromas of stone fruit, citrus, and brioche, a textural palate with vanilla from oak, and a mineral, citrus-fresh finish. It carries 93 points and is rated for drinking now or over two to seven years.
The Bannockburn Riesling rounds out the white wines. The single-vineyard Pinot Noir tier runs to three bottlings: The Inlet, described as dense, rounded, and supple; Black Rabbit, brooding, layered, and muscular; and Swansong. Each is a distinct parcel expression from Bannockburn, made in the same native-yeast, unfined tradition as the rest of the range. A smaller secondary selection of alternative varieties exists, including Gamay, Syrah, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris, and rosé, though production and cellar details on these are limited.