Dog Point Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018

Description

• French oak
• Rose & violet
• Bramble & red cherry
• Silky tannins

"Supple, vibrant, organic pinot noir with cherry, violet, blackcurrant leaf, spice, anise, and subtle nutty oak flavours. High-energy wine with impressive purity. An elegant and youthful pinot noir with obvious cellaring potential" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Nov 2020

"Complex, varietal and very inviting bouquet with aromas of sweet red berries, plum, tea and roses layered between scents of vanilla and mild toasty wood spices. On the palate - youthful, firm, fruity, varietal and dry. Flavours of cherry and plum then vanilla an raw sugar of newish oak precede textures of firm chalky tannins and medium+ acidity. A wine that still required development time to soften the tannins a little more and allow for more integration and harmony. Well made and ready to enjoy from late 2021 through 2027+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Nov 2020

Bright crimson colour in the glass. Perfumed, bright florals of rose and violets with crunchy red berry fruit. Brambly, dried herb notes add a layer of complexity. Succulent and supple with alluring red cherry, brown spices and silky fine boned tannins.

Sourced from the Marlborough home vineyards, Settlement and Yarrum, largely all on hill slopes. 3.5 tonnes/hectare. Some plantings date back to 1983. 70% Dijon Clones (667,777,115) 15% Clone 5, 10% Abel, 5% 10/5. Clay loams.

A mild Spring free of frost alerts, resulted in an extremely good budburst with nice even growth across all varieties. Above average early/mid-summer temperatures with generally settled weather ensured an excellent flowering and fruit set, with January the warmest in over 60 years of statistical records. This led to one of the teams earliest harvests, however the month also produced another climatic record with by far the highest rainfall recorded for February, necessitating additional canopy management, under vine weeding and inter row mowing. Low cropping with good open canopies allowed sunlight and wind penetration to do their job, which certainly won the day in a testing, but rewarding vintage.

Hand picked and chilled overnight prior to handsorting. 75% destemmed and 25% whole bunches included. Fermented in small stainless open top fermenters with 100% indigenous yeasts over a period of 3 weeks prior to pressing into French oak barrels for eighteen months (30% new).