Varietal Pinot Noir
Region Marlborough
Alcohol 13.5% 
Total Acidity 6.2 g/l
Residual Sugar 1.16 g/l 

Description
Rich ripe plum, berry and subtle forest floor aromas marry together for a smooth medium bodied Pinot Noir. The palate shows persistent rich cherry/plum flavours and mild spicy oak making an enjoyable and easy drinking wine.

Vintage Conditions
Late spring/summer was a period of overcast, dark days with cool temperatures. The Growing Degree Days (GDD) was looking like being the lowest on record. This caused a poor flowering and fruit set resulting in low crops levels. The fruit had very good flavours and bright acidity. There was very little disease pressure or frosts and the low yielding crops were harvested very late in the season. We picked some fruit in May where as we normally have finished by ANZAC day. 

Vinification
This wine was made in small batches using a variety of different winemaking techniques to try and enhance the individual clones and vineyards character. 

A portion of the fruit was handpicked and was plunged in small open vats until completion of ferment. This allowed lighter fruit components to be expressed. 

The balance of the fruit was machine picked and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The ferment was pumped over twice a day with temperatures of up to 32 degrees being reached to extract the colour and tannins for the backbone of the wine. A percentage of the ferment was transferred to barrels to complete the fermentation in new oak. The remaining components were aged in one and two year old French oak barriques for ten months before being blended. The wine was given a light egg white fining before being bottled. 

Awards

SILVER - San Francisco International Wine Competition 2014 

SILVER - Spiegelau International Wine Competition 2014 BRONZE - Easter Show Wine Awards 2014 

BRONZE - International Cool Climate Wine Show 2014 

BRONZE - New World Wine Awards 2014 

3.5 STARS - Winestate Magazine, Jul/Aug 2014 

REVIEW - Peter Saunders, Independent Wine Writer 

“Very good Pinot, avoiding heaviness but allowing the fruit to meld with the oak and tannin to give us a lovely food wine, Texturally very appealing, the fruit characters emerging perfectly with a mouth-feel of subtle and positive depth. Ready from now on, into 2017.”