Varietal Pinot Noir
Region Marlborough, New Zealand
Alcohol 3.5% Vol.
Total Acidity 5.9 g/l
Residual Sugar 0.74 g/l

Description
This Pinot Noir has medium body with strawberry and black cherry fruit aromas. The palate combines the flavours of black cherry, spice and subtle French oak to produce a soft full wine.

Vintage Conditions
Short and intense is the best way to describe the grape harvesting of 2012. The fine weather worked in our favour throughout the entire season, including during the critical flowering, ripening and harvest period. As the harvester moved from block to block there was no stopping, the weather was good; flavours were right and within a 3 week period all fruit was safely in the winery. Yields hit targets on all varieties rating the 2012 season up there with the best.

Vinification
A portion of the fruit was hand-picked and was plunged in small open vats until completion of ferment. The remainder 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.