• French oak
• Blackberry & sandalwood
• Graphite & cocoa
• Supple tannins

"After several minutes in glass -  aromas of mineral soil and berries, savoury and spice with a fine oak, flowers and a sense of place begin to unfurl. On the palate the wine comes alive with flavours of strawberry and red cherry, dark rose and red apple, limestone and clay, red flowers and baking spices of oak. Complex, tense and young with firm chalky textured tannins, medium+ acidity and  flavours that linger for minutes. Delicious, but needs cellar time to complete the harmonious  links that have  begun. Best drinking from late 2022 through 2028+" Cameron Douglas, Master, Jun 2021

"The 2019 Damsteep Pinot Noir features aromas that mix wintergreen, raspberries, roses and tea leaves. Complex and perfumed, it's medium-bodied and crisp on the palate, marked by firm tannins and dusty astringency on the mouthwatering finish. Give it another couple of years to mellow, then drink it over the next six or seven" Nick Stock, James Suckling

Deep Ruby hue. Fragrant aromas of wild raspberry, blackberry, sandalwood, vanilla and sea spray. Flavours of silken and bright wild forest fruits, graphite, dark coco powder and cola. Supple and elastic mid pallet tannins that are contained with bright and pure minerality. Typical white rock tension creates a long and vibrant finish.

This is an unfined and unfiltered wine with small amounts of sediment. Please allow the bottle to stand and settle before pouring. Decanting will allow maximum expression of aroma and purity of fruit to emerge.

The Damsteep Vineyard is located in the north east of Waipara Valley at the foot of the Omihi Saddle in North Canterbury. This Pinot Noir is grown on a 5.5 hectare vineyard with 9 different parcels of various north-east, north, and north-west facing slopes, with an altitude between 140 to 180 meters above sea level. The vines here were planted in 2000 and grow on clay overlying fractured limestone and sandstone soils. Organic and biodynamic farming practices have been used since 2012. The Damsteep Vineyard has been fully certified organic with BioGro since March 2017.

Early spring rainfall and moderate temperatures meant vines grew evenly though out our vineyards from around the spring equinox in late September. Night time temperatures remained above zero preventing frost damage for the third spring in a row. Rapid growth kept our vineyard team busy with shoot thinning, cultivation, and organic spray rounds with short intervals. Cool wet weather through flowering at the end of November effected flowering and fruit set. By the summer solstice in late December it was clear that yields would be low and bunch and berry size would be small. Warm dry conditions in January and February slowed vegetative growth and ripened fruit. Settled conditions in March allowed an early start to harvest where hand harvested fruit was ripe and clean with low disease pressure and optimal ripeness. While yields were very low quality across all varieties was exceptional.

73% De-stemmed, not crushed, 80% Whole berries. 4 days cold soak at ambient temperature. Yeast for fermentation was propagated from a vineyard starter. Fermentation lasted 10 to 12 days with hand or foot plunging one to 2 times per day. Pressed after 28 days on skins and drained to tight grained French barrels 3 to 10 years old. Malo-lactic fermentation was completed in spring. 12 months barrel maturation, then racked to stainless steel tank where the wine settled for 5 months. Bottled without fining or filtration. Sulphites added.

Food Pairing: Perfect with baked salmon and roasted vegetables.