Hunter's Marlborough Pinot Gris 2026

Description

Dry, Nectarine, Pear

This Pinot Gris shows ripe pear, apple and peach fruit characters on the nose. The palate reveals floral notes with sweet nectarine fruit, complemented by subtle citrus nuances. The wine has wonderful depth and complexity, finishing with an off-dry finish. This is a fragrant Pinot Gris that will age well over the next five years.

The growing season started strongly, with no frost events and favourable conditions through flowering. Warm weather persisted through to mid-December, setting the vines up well. However, the second half of December and all of January brought unusually cool and wet conditions. Fortunately, the weather pattern shifted in early February, allowing the fruit to recover exceptionally well. Yields were healthy without being excessive, and the extended dry finish to the season allowed the fruit to achieve full ripeness while retaining excellent balance and flavour concentration.

The fruit for this wine was sourced from the Rapaura sub-region of Marlborough. The grapes were hand harvested at different maturity levels to add complexity to the finished wine.The cloudy pressed juice was fermented in stainless steel and old French oak barrels before being blended back together for a brief period of lees aging. Oxidative juice handling techniques were employed to minimise phenolic uptake. This wine is Certified Vegan by the NZ Vegetarian Society.