Catalina Sounds Marlborough Pinot Noir 2021

Description

• French oak
• Blueberry & cherry
• Baking spices
• Soft acidity

A bit brooding at first, this takes a minute to open up. Baking spices, blueberry and cassis, reveal lifted red fruits and cinnamon, wrapped up in toasty oak. The palate is medium bodied with juicy red cherries, soft acid and fine chalky tannins. Enjoy over the next 5-7 years when cellared correctly.

100% Marlborough. Fruit for the 2021 Catalina Sounds Pinot Noir comes from three vineyards, predominantly in the Southern Valleys with a parcel from the Awatere Valley. Fruit from Southern Valleys provides the backbone of dark fruit and earthy spices. The Awatere Valley brings perfume and lifted red fruits to the blend, complimenting the Southern Valleys fruit.

The 2021 vintage certainly had its nuances compared to vintages over the last decade. Early spring frosts, combined with cool wet weather during flowering had a significant impact across Marlborough, resulting in yields being lower than average across the region. Summer was beautifully dry and warm, and with low-yields an early harvest was upon us; starting 10 days earlier than 2020. A stunning year for Pinot Noir with small bunches and berries, packed with flavour and structure.

Pinot Noir was harvested over 10 days, picking blocks at optimum ripeness. All fruit is handled gently in the winery, where blocks and sub-blocks are kept separate all the way to blending. The fruit for Catalina Sounds is mostly destemmed and left at ambient temperature on skins for several days prior to fermentation. Ferments are allowed to reach max. 32 degrees with gentle handling each day and then left on their skins for about 7 days before draining and pressing to French oak, about 15-20% new. The wine was blended in February and bottled in March prior to vintage the following year.

Food Pairing: Crispy duck pancakes, grilled quail, pulled pork, seared salmon with barbecued beetroot.