Judge Rock Alexandra Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016

Description

• Herbs & spice
• Black Doris plum
• Raspberry
• Medium tannins

Very dark purple with paler purple hues. Fragrant spice, dried herbs, black doris plums and lifted red fruits. The palate has a rich warm entry with plums, raspberries, violets and leather.  This wine is nicely structured with medium grain tannins, rich mid palate and a good line of acid. The finish is very long with a lovely minerality.

Judge Rock's westerly facing vineyard misses the early morning sun but bakes in the late sun. They cordon prune to 4-5 spurs per side to control the crop load. Vines are tended by hand 12-14 times a season with shoot thinning to two shoots per spur, tucking up, lateral removal, bunch thinning to 2 bunches per shoot, shoulder removal and leaf plucked for maximum sun exposure pre-veraison, removal of non-coloured bunches post veraison Bunch weights averaged 80g per bunch.

The fruit was harvested on 17-19 April 2016 and was destemmed into 1 x 9T stainless steel tank followed by fermentation carried out by indigenous yeasts until the wine was dry. The wine was aged in French Oak barriques for around 9 months, of which 29% was new oak.