Toi Toi Reserve Marlborough Pinot Gris 2021

Description

Dry, Floral, Pear

"A splendid expression of the variety showing honeydew melon, poached pear, mango and rich floral aromas on the nose. The richly textured palate displays excellent weight and fleshy mouthfeel beautifully complemented by bright acidity, finishing persistent and refreshing. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2022

Our Brookdale Reserve Pinot Gris is deliciously full, rich and weighted. The colour of light, golden straw, it tantalises with full, rounded aromas of honeysuckle, Nashi pear, white nectarine and baking spice. On the palate, mandarin, jasmine and ripe stone fruit flow together, followed by a hint of musk. Fine acid and a touch of phenolic drive carry and maintain the persistent fruit on to the back of the palate.

Brookdale Vineyard, located in Omaka Valley, Marlborough is the source for our single vineyard Brookdale Reserve Pinot Gris. It also has the distinction of being our first-ever vineyard, planted in 2006 and considered Toi Toi’s spiritual home. Here, the weather conditions are sunny, perfect for grape growing and the soil is renowned for producing highly flavoured and aromatic grapes.

We use a mix of grape clones for this wine, each one providing its own different structure and flavour profile. Our Brookdale Reserve Pinot Gris grape clones balance citrus and minerality with floral, spiced, citrus notes. To increase the quality of the Reserve fruit, we hand select the best rows in the Brookdale vineyard and then thin the crop down by about 25% before veraison. No sulphur is added to the grapes at the vineyard, but a small dose is added to the free run juice to preserve the fruit flavours. The grapes are machine harvested at around 23 – 23.5 brix for a ‘fuller’ style.

For our Reserve Pinot Gris we only use the free-run wine that we extract from gently pressing the fruit skins. The free-run wine is then fermented with textural yeast to add structure and body. A portion is left to ferment in older neutral oak to add further structure. Our Brookdale Reserve Pinot Gris is then aged on lees for 5-6 months and is stirred regularly to create a creamy, mid-palate weight and texture.