Loveblock Organic Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023

Description

Dry, Melon, Pear

Pale with golden touches. Elegant aromas of rockmelon yield to layers of chamomile and citrus. Beautiful prosciutto-wrapped melon, Nashi pear and fruit notes are underscored with lingering texture, mouthfeel and linear acidity. The palate is complex, finishing with hints of wet stone minerality.

The grapes come from our family-owned Loveblock Farm in Lower Dashwood, Marlborough. Relatively unique in Marlborough, these grapes were sourced entirely from our certified-organic estate vineyard, the Triangle. Here, the vineyard soils are alluvial silt over stone. Organic management decreases the vigour of the vines, reducing berry size andhence overall yields. The grapes were harvested in late March yielding nine tonnes per hectare.

In making dry Pinot Gris, we have to manage the vine to give physiological ripeness at low Brix, so that the wine is not overly alcoholic. Organic management does this for us, with the competition from the wild flowers and grasses forcing the vine to struggle. Once the grapes were deemed ripe the fruit was machine harvested and membrane pressed immediately (no preservatives were added in the field to reduce the grape phenolics). The juice was then floated and inoculated.