Estate Pinot Noir 2022
A blend from both our sites and in a way the most important wine we create in terms of representing our ‘estate’ style. We endeavour to bring all the deliciousness and easy drinkability great Pinot Noir can deliver when handled with care.
Winemaker Note
“Nice, vibrant ruby red colour. Sweetly scented and classically “Martinborough” with a nice balance of red cherry, pretty florals and savoury, earthy notes. A delicious array of ripe and succulent red berry/cherry flavours and layers. Lovely spice and quite a lot of fruit and oak sweetness on the finish, complimented nicely by silky tannins and delicate acidity. Nice, fresh and youthful Pinot Noir expression. Great drinking now and will cellar nicely for 5 plus years.”
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Pulling off a viable crop is a tricky task even when the weather is playing along. Some seasons the gods are not smiling though and it these seasons which feel like they are sent to test us!
The 21/22 spring was strongly influenced by a strong La Nina cycle which created frequent NE weather events across the East Coast of the North Island bringing high humidity and frequent rain events, conditions which are less than ideal for grape farming; Pinot Noir in particular. Our vineyard team did an amazing job in highly challenging conditions to get us to a great position in Mid – January where it looked like an excellent crop was on the cards, plus the crucial period of flowering in late November turned out to be near perfect for the task. It felt like the region as a whole had somehow pulled off a miracle!
The good vibes were short lived unfortunately when a rainfall event of biblical proportions struck the region in the 2nd week of February, around a third of annual rainfall fell over two days! Pinot Noir vineyards on the terrace, particularly those with Dijon clones were worst affected with widespread berry collapse followed by shrivel. Botrytis was also a very real threat and swept through many blocks making picking near impossible. Producers like us with sites off the terrace and a higher portion of the later ripening Pinot clones; Abel, 10/5 for example, certainly fared better. White varieties, because they are later ripening , were largely unaffected and quality across the board quality was high, ditto for Syrah.
Looking at the wines 6 -7 months on I am extremely happy with what I see. It is the most satisfying to produce great wines in difficult years.
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As always, crafted using 100% Estate grown Pinot Noir harvested from both of our vineyards. Majority harvested from the younger vines growing on the clay/limestone hillside of the Blue Rock Vineyard. All fruit was de-stemmed and gently transferred into 6 ton open top temperature controlled stainless steel fermenters. The fruit was chilled down and held for a 5-6 day ‘cold soak’ to aid in colour and flavour extraction. Once the cooling was turned off the ferment began as the fruit slowly came up to ambient temperature.
Once fermentation is in progress each ‘ferment’ is plunged once or twice daily. Temperature is closely monitored with a peak of around 30 degrees C allowed towards the end of the fermentation. Total maceration time was between 15–30 days before gentle pressing followed by oak maturation for 10 months. Bottled following minimal fining and gentle filtration. Contains no animal products.
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Braised rabbit pappardelle
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pH 3.72
TA 4.5 g/L
RS <1 g/L
Alc 13.5 %
Bottled Feb 2023
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