Koha Pinot Noir 2019

This wine possesses classic Pinot Noir aromatics of cherry and plum, with touches of forest floor and allspice. A medium bodied, richly textured wine, with a long floral finish. Pure black and red fruits dominate the palate, supported by some savoury cola, beetroot and spice characters.

The Taylor River vineyard is situated alongside the Taylor River shingle fan. The soil consists of loams, silts, clays and river gravels. The combination of clay and free draining soils and gravels makes this vineyard ideally suited for premium Pinot Noir production.

The Omaka North Vineyard lies just North of the Taylor River vineyard. The soils are similar but Omaka North has less clay and more silt/loam. The resulting wines are a more delicate and floral in nature.

The fruit for this wine was harvested from four blocks. One of which was planted in clone 115, which was handpicked and fermented with 20% whole clusters. The 2nd block was machine harvested from Abel vines, and destemmed in the field. The Omaka North clones were destemmed and co-fermented in open tops. All batches were cold soaked for 5 days and then fermented in 8 T open tops (hand plunged 2-3 times per day). The wine was left on skins for a further 5-7 days post-fermentation to build structure and harmonise the tannins.

The wine was gently pressed to French oak barrels for 10 months to undergo malo-lactic fermentation and maturation. 33% new oak.