Tohu Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Gris 2020

Description

• Dry style
• Golden apple
• Sweet spice
• Long lingering finish

A complex and fruit-driven Pinot Gris from Marlborough's Awatere Valley, this wine shows aromas of juicy pear and citrus blossom leading to a palate of fresh quince, golden apple, and hints of sweet spice. With integrated fine phenolics and smooth acidity this is a fresh and richly textured wine with a long lingering finish.

The grapes from this wine are sourced from two vineyards located in the cool southern Awatere Valley region of Marlborough. The majority of the grapes come from a vineyard near the coastal planes of the Awatere, with a smaller portion of the grapes sourced from a vineyard located further inland on young fertile river terraces. The 2019/2020 growing season in the Awatere began with some unsettled weather over the flowering period which resulted in lower yields throughout the vineyards. However, the warm and dry Summer that followed provided a dream run for both the vineyard and winemaking teams. With no disease pressure in the vineyard and ideal weather over the harvest period, grapes were able to be picked at optimal ripeness, resulting in a wine with outstanding aromatics, palate weight and texture.

Grapes sourced from a number of prime sites in the Awatere Valley are gently pressed once at the winery to obtain beautifully clear free-run juice, with the harder pressings kept separate and allowed to oxidise and soften phenolics before being re-combined with the free-run juice. The juice is then settled and racked into stainless steel tanks for warming and inoculation with carefully selected yeasts. Fermentation is carried out at cool temperatures of around 10-13ºC to help preserve the fruity characters and lasts around 21 days until the balance of residual sugar and acidity/phenolics has reached the ideal point. Post-ferment the wine is hekd in tank and matured for a short period of time before being stabilised ready for bottling. With no additional finings judged necessary, this wine was ready for bottling in early July 2020.