Butterworth Te Muna Estate Pinot Noir 2018

Aroma: Lifted aromatic rose petal, wild raspberry and blackberry, cinnamon and nutmeg spice jump from the glass with lavender and earthiness following. Palate: The palate is spicy, with great length. The Te Muna Road minerality drives through the middle of the palate, showcasing the delicate ripe gypsum tannins that were gently extracted from the skins during ferment.

The soils of Te Muna Terraces are deep, free-draining alluvial gravel, which are rich in minerals making it ideal for growing grapes. The climate is an extension of Martinborough and similar to Burgundy, being only slightly cooler due to higher altitude, but with long cool summers and low rainfall providing the optimum long ripening conditions for grapes. The vines were hand pruned, hand trained, and hand tended on two cane vertical shoot positioning trellis system. The grapes were hand harvested from 6 different clones, the picks were coordinated with the differing ripening times.

The grapes were destemmed, then gently fermented and macerated in up to 2.2T lots for at least 20 to 25 days. The fermenters were drained and pressed to French oak barriques, with topping occurring every week with the wines on full ferment yeast lees. The barrels were selected and combined for a rest period. A light filtration before bottling ensures the stability of the wine.