This Pinot Gris is an invitation to experience the unexpected. Aromatically the wine is floral featuring scents of jasmine and lilac. On the palate, it is full-bodied with luscious ripe pear flavors backed by sensuous texture and crisp, clean, ripe Victoria plums followed by a cream-like finish.

2017 was a tricky vintage with two cyclones keeping the winemakers on their toes! One occurred early on at the start and then another in the middle of vintage. Given the inclement weather, they managed to pick the Pinot Gris in sound, clean condition avoiding any botrytis. The clean fruit was achieved through selective hand picking at a high level of quality control, followed by careful hand sorting at the winery. This attention to detail resulted in the very best fruit being pressed into a stainless steel tank to settle for roughly 12 hours. The wine was then racked, preserving some of the solids which give the wine texture and an added layer of complexity. The Pinot Gris was then slowly fermented at 14 degrees Celsius until bone dry (i.e. <3 g/L residual sugar). The slow ferment helped retain good fruit integrity.

The Pinot Gris is planted on the warm slopes of a north facing hill block of natural uncontoured land, sloping from 55m to 32m above sea level. This site is well suited for Pinot Gris as it is out of the cooler and lower surrounding areas, and the soil mix of silt loam and clay provide excellent water-holding properties. It is all hand tended throughout the season and at harvest. A variety of Pinot Gris clones have been planted including German Geisenheim clone 2/21, new clonal reselections from South Africa (e.g. clones 7a, 14a and 52b and the Berrysmith clone), which all provide a full-bodied, textural wine with a richness in the mid palate.

Food Pairing: Pair the Mt. Beautiful Pinot Gris with carbonara, a salty feta and fig salad or whole baked Chinook salmon and especially rowdy dinner guests.