From the winemaker…
The Last Chance is a beautifully sited two-hectare terrace perched in bright clear air above the Earnscleugh Valley, carefully planted with well-tended Burgundian clone pinot noir. It nestles amongst a small cluster of the World’s most southerly vineyards and takes its name from the watercourse that runs through its heart, hand dug by gold miners in the 1860s, The Last Chance soils are raw schist gravels that are low in fertility and require careful nurturing.
Hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard. 65% whole-bunch fermentation in a 3.5 tonne wooden cuve. 5 day cold soak. No commercial yeast added, ferment temperature peaked at 32° – post fermentation transferred to medium and light toast French barriques for 11 months maturation. 25% new wood and the balance in second and third fill barrels. Light filtration prior to bottling.
Clonal ratio: 76% 115, 12% 5, 8% 6 and 4% 114.
Dark black currant, spice and wild thyme aromatics lead to an elegant supple wine showing gorgeous minerality drive and poise. This wine shows a great sense of site.
Cellar up to 12 years.
Two Paddocks 2018 harvest will be remembered as the earliest picking date on record. A warm spring that quickly turned in to a hot summer with much warmer night time temperatures than are typically experienced in Alexandra. Ideal conditions over flowering, which was a month early, began on the 20th November. Again, perfect growing conditions meant veraison also began a month early on the 20th January and then the extreme heat and dry finished abruptly on the 1st February. Cooler temperatures over February / March thankfully slowed ripening down and intensified flavour development, but harvest still began nearly a month earlier than typical on the 14th March and was over by the 11th April. Both the grapes and stems were beautifully ripe, intensely flavoured and in perfect health.
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