Loveblock Pinot Gris - Estate 2022

Colour: Pale with golden touches. Aroma: Delicate aromas of jasmine and citrus flower yield to additional layers of Asian pear and prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe. Palate: Beautiful notes of juicy white peach, Asian and Packham pear are followed by sweet citrus, hints of barley-sugar and minerality. Rounded finish with lingering texture, mouthfeel and linear acidity, backed by gentle savoury notes.

Loveblock Marlborough Pinot Gris Tasting Notes with Erica

The grapes come from our family-owned Loveblock Farm in Lower Dashwood, Marlborough. Relatively unique in Marlborough, these grapes were sourced entirely from our estate vineyards. Here, the vineyard soils are predominately aged alluvial loams containing some silt loam over stone. The grapes were harvested in late March.

In making dry Pinot Gris, we have to manage the vine to give physiological ripeness at low Brix, so that the wine is not overly alcoholic. Once the grapes were ripe the fruit was machine harvested (no preservatives were added in the vineyard to reduce the grape phenolics). The juice was then floated and inoculated. This was followed by cool fermentation with an aromatic yeast (in order to optimise the aromatics) and the ferment was stopped when in balance. A portion of this wine was fermented in a concrete egg and neutral old French oak barrels and underwent malolactic fermentation. Once finished, the wine was cold stabilised and bottled in October 2021.