From the winemaker…
An ethereal concoction of red fruit and spices: juicy cherries, strawberries and cranberries, intermingled with suggestions of star anise and sarsaparilla, dark tobacco and cloves. This is a highly perfumed, aromatic style of Marlborough pinot,with exotic fruit sweetness and a delicate earthy infusion. The palate has considerable length and classic cool-climate vibrancy.
All fruit was grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleysand principally sourced from the Yarrum Vineyard, situated on the Brancott/Ben Morven ridge.Typical of this sub-region,the wind-blown loess soils are comprised of clay-loams with differing degrees of gravel content. The various source blocks are cultivated to a mixture of pinot noir clones, predominantly the Dijon clones 115, 777 and 667, with smaller parcels of UCD5 and AM 10/5.The vineyards are primarily hillside plantings trained to two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) with a high vine density of 3800 plants per hectare.
The grapes were hand-harvested and chilled overnight prior to hand sorting. Most of the fruit was then de-stemmed into open-top fermenters, the majority of which also had a percentage of whole-bunch inclusion. The fruit was left to soak on skins prior to the onset of indigenous yeast fermentation, then plunged daily. After fermentation,the wine was pressed, racked and filled into French oak barriques (30%new). Individual clones were aged separately in barrel for 16 months, prior to blending in August. The wine was bottled in February 2020 with alcohol 13.5%, pH 3.72 and acidity 5.5g/l.
Release: October 2020
