Pinot Noir 2017

Aromas of ripe dark red cherries and berry fruit abound on the nose with hints of floral perfume in the background, adding complexity and intrigue. Soft velvety tannins form the backbone of this succulent and vibrant Pinot. The red cherries come through in the mid palate, along with savoury notes and touches of nutty oak spice. This is a superbly balanced, elegant and weighted wine that will age for up to ten years.

2017 was a challenging and complex season in Martinborough. The season started with a roar with warm spring conditions and settled weather. As the New Year rolled around the expected warm summer weather arrived only in fits and starts, meaning we had little stress on the vines and good canopy growth. Yields were down slightly due to the sporadic summer but with the lack of late summer heat the lower crop levels were a blessing, as the vineyard required a lot of extra work to maintain quality. The hard work was worth it though, as we harvested lovely ripe grapes in late April.

All fruit was carefully hand-picked over two vineyard passes. In the winery we destemmed all fruit into 3T open top tanks, and fermentation started naturally from indigenous yeasts, which add to the wine’s complexity. After a few days on skins we bled off around 5% of the juice, to concentrate the remaining wine and enhance its structure. The wine spent a total of 23 days on skins, including punching down by hand up to twice a day, before being pressed to French oak barrels. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and remained on its lees for ten months before racking, blending and bottling.

Bottle aged for two years before release.