The Hermit Ram is one of New Zealand’s most idiosyncratic and compelling wine projects — a natural extension of winemaker Theo Coles’ deep engagement with land, history, and intuition. Based in North Canterbury, Coles works with old vines, ancient soils, and low-intervention techniques to craft wines that are both deeply expressive and defiantly unpolished. The Hermit Ram is not about refinement for its own sake — it’s about truth in texture, energy, and the raw, living voice of site.

The fruit is sourced from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards, often dry-farmed and planted on limestone, clay, or gravel-rich soils throughout Waipara and surrounding subregions. Many sites feature old ungrafted vines, farmed by hand, and picked early to preserve tension and phenolic complexity. The viticulture is instinctual and responsive, with low yields and no systemic inputs. For Coles, the vineyard is not a tool — it is the starting point of a conversation.

In the cellar, nothing is added or taken away. Fermentations are wild, extractions are gentle, and sulphur is minimal or absent. Pinot Noir is often made with whole clusters and aged in older barrels, yielding wines of stemmy elegance and quiet power. Skin-fermented whites, field blends, and experimental cuvées — including wine aged in clay amphorae or infused with native botanicals — form part of a revolving, intuitive portfolio. Each wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with a deliberate refusal to standardize.

The wines are layered, wild-edged, and unmistakably alive. Pinot Noir is nervy and structural — lifted by red fruit, crushed herb, and earthy salinity. Skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, rosé, and pet-nats are bright and textural, often hazy, always precise in their unpredictability. Across the range, there is a clarity of vision: wines made with minimal mediation, maximum site fidelity, and a restless curiosity that resists easy definition.

What defines The Hermit Ram is its raw coherence — wines that resist the polish of convention, but never abandon control.

These are wines that feel unearthed rather than made — expressive, elemental, and shaped by instinct more than intention.