Dicey The Inlet Bannockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019

Description

• Oak
• Dark cherry & plum
• Wild thyme
• Liquorice

"Soft, rich and delicately aromatic, with attractive floral, plum, cherry, spice and vanilla flavours restrained by a backbone of peppery tannins. Delicious now but with good cellaring potential" Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, Jan 2021

Dark cherry and wild thyme aromas perfume the bouquet. A deliciously complex palate of plum and liquorice flavours.

Inlet Vineyard is situated on a river terrace above the Bannockburn Inlet. Planted 2002. The soils are loess ranging from 200—600mm on top of deep clay gravels, around 160,000 years old. On an elevation of 225—245m. 5.25 ha.

2019 was a year of contrasts: frost, snow, rain, drought and wind storms. We were lucky. There was good weather during December when the vines were flowering, and a long, cool ripening period (with frosts to keep us on our toes). Veraison took an age, which meant lots of variability in the fruit, making for tough thinning and picking decisions.

A blend of 66% Clone 6 and 33% Cl777 with 10% whole bunch. Fermented with indigenous yeast. 25 days on skins — 7 days cold soak, 9 days in ferment, 10 days post ferment. Ferment temperatures peaked at 28C. Punched down at most once daily. Maturation in 4 year old barrels. Natural malolactic fermentation. No fining prior to bottling in October 2020.

The elements needed to craft a Dicey wine are the vineyard plus heat, rain, wind. The precise amounts of each vary from year to year. The grapes endure the fury of nature and then we harvest them by hand. Swansong. Black Rabbit. Inlet. Each vineyard has its own essence. We take the grapes that hold this essence and make single vineyard wines. Last of all, we choose a small number of barrels from each vineyard that are their truest expression and create a composition. An ode to the year. It’s simple. We bottle time.