Tasting Notes

The resulting wine has a lovely bright ruby red colour with hints of dark cherry. Aromas of ripe plum and red berries integrate well with subtle spicy oak. On the palate the flavours abound. Raspberry, black cherry with a little bit of plum and cassis integrate with the spicy oak and fine tannins. A long seductive finish is enjoyed. Our Reserve Pinot Noir is not specifically made to be enjoyed in its youth but it does taste very well while it is young. As the wine develops it will integrate more and gain complexity and structure.

This is a very approachable young Pinot Noir but will reward with careful cellaring of up to 5 years. As mentioned the flavours will integrate more over time and the wine will become more complex. We enjoy our Pinot Noir with lamb, veal, subtle game dishes and good hard cheeses.

The majority of the fruit for this wine comes from the Kernick vineyard which is a warm site on stony Rapaura soils. The vines are 14 years old – some of the oldest Dijon clones in Marlborough. A small portion of fruit from the cooler Brown vineyard in the lower Waihopai was also used. The fruit was hand harvested on a cool autumn morning and quickly transported to the winery to be processed and cooled. During a 5 day cold soak each tank was hand plunged up to 5 times a day to extract colour and flavour from the berries without extracting harsh phenolics. The must was then inoculated with selected yeasts for fermentation. Once almost dry the wine was pressed off skins and transferred to a combination of different coopers of new French oak and some once used. During barrel time the wine went through malolactic fermentation and a stay of almost 10 months. Before bottling all barrels were tasted and only the best barrels were selected to make this Reserve standard of wine.

Matt Thomson and Alland McGettigan

TA: 6.2
RS: 1.5g/l
Alc: 13.85%

22nd of March