"Very attractive Bannockburn Pinot Noir with lifted floral, dark cherry, plum, spice and anise flavours that are flattered by a silken-smooth texture. Impressive lightness and energy. Irresistible now but should develop well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jun 2019

As Mt Difficulty's vineyards are ageing winemakers are starting to see additional complexity emerging each vintage, 2017 produced a perfumed Pinot Noir focused on dark berry and black cherry; brambly herb elements overlay a combination of violet and deep baronial florals. The wine displays breadth, focus and a fine plush finish. Savoury brambly blackberry introduces the wine, followed by a broad textured mid palate; this moves seamlessly into plush fine textural tannins. Dark cherry notes frame the finish. Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir will improve for 10-15 years given optimal vintage and cellaring conditions.

A very interesting season - overall winemakers ended up with about an average amount of heat even though the season had a distinctly cool bent to it. A very warm wet spring kicked off the growing season in style with very early bud-burst. Just as they were entering into flowering the weather deteriorated with very cool weather being the norm right through late December. This impacted on flowering with lower than average yield.

The changeable season led to lower than average yields of 5.2 T/Ha. Picking decisions were tricky with the key focus being phenolic ripeness. Winemakers started harvesting their Pinot Noir on April 4th and continued through to April 28th. Where possible, we try to co-ferment different clonal lots from the same vineyard, while vineyards are kept separate. Around three quarters of the ferments were de-stemmed only; the remaining quarter contained 15-40% whole clusters. The must underwent 8-9 days of cold maceration, being hand plunged once daily. The ferments were heated after this and all fermented with indigenous yeasts. The ferments lasted for an average of 7-9 days during which time they were hand plunged once daily with the temperature peaking at 30°C. The wine stayed on skins for a further 7-9 days post-dryness, and was plunged occasionally with increasing ease. When the wine tasted in harmony it was pressed off to barrel where it resided on full lees for 12 months. It underwent malolactic fermentation in the spring, was racked out of barrel in late autumn and filtered, but not fined, prior to bottling.