Luna Eclipse Single Vineyard Martinborough Pinot Noir 2019

Description

• French oak
• Cherry
• Baked plum
• Ripe tannins

"Moderately powerful bouquet with concentrated aromas of red plum, cherry stone, crushed thyme, acacia wood, and a strong, smoky-bacon, oak influence. A powerful yet stylish, intensely-flavoured wine with impressive depth, and flavours that linger. An excellent example of some well-handled, whole bunch fermentation giving texture, and complexity. Offering superb drinking" NZ Wine Rater, Sep 2021

"Graceful and complex, the wine shows dark plum, thyme, cedar, floral and warm mushroom notes on the nose, followed by a silky-smooth palate that's succulent and fleshy. It's beautifully composed and proportioned with elegant structure, finishing splendidly long and velvety. At its best: now to 2031" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Aug 2021

"Delicate, almost ethereal pinot noir with floral, violet, red cherry, spicy oak and a hint of mineral flavours. Impressive purity and subtle power with a tantalising lingering finish. Very impressive" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Sep 2021

"Already highly enjoyable, the 2019 vintage (5*) is a single-vineyard red, hand-harvested from vines planted on the Martinborough Terrace in the early 1990s, matured for a year in French oak puncheons (20 per cent new), and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Full, bright ruby, it is mouthfilling, savoury and supple, with generous, ripe cherry, plum and spice flavours, slightly earthy and nutty notes adding complexity, and finely balanced tannins. Best drinking 2023+" Michael Cooper, Buyer's Guide, Aug 2021

"Aromas of ripe red berries, old strawberry, dusty baking spices, oak, raspberries and cherry. There’s complexity and indulgent charm, a bouquet that is floral and varietal. On the palate - delicious, fresh, ripe, fruity, complex and engaging. Flavours of berries and plum, spices and toasty barrel reflect the nose. An abundance of chalky tannins and youthful acid line. Well made, youthful, tense, textured and dry. Well made with the ideal drinking window from 2022 through 2030+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Aug 2021

Nice fresh, youthful vibrant appearance. I love wine when it shows classic regional/vineyard character. When it comes to Pinot Noir farmed on Martinboroughs famed River Terrace I get excited when I smell stones and dirt alongside dried herb and meat. I see all of these signatures in this wine and I am thrilled by it! There is of course the usual stuff like cherry, baked plum and floral notes, I also find the whole bunch component rather intriguing and charming at present. Will be interesting to see what this does over time… Across the palate this wine travels with elegance and harmony. Abundant ripe tannins and textures with a rich and smooth feel. I really like the savory mineral feel through the palate and there is an extra bit of belly fat which suits the wine in its youth. This belly will get softer and more generous over the years. So it goes.

Winter came late with August and September cold and wet. Jack Frost paid a visit with a catastrophic event occurring late spring resulting in heavy losses across the region. We were not spared, Eclipse vineyard was struck across the blocks closest to the terrace edge, losses estimated around 30%. High rainfall returned in November negatively impacting on the flowering stage, reducing crop levels significantly and making machinery work extremely difficult. To put it mildly; a highly challenging spring. Summer was hot and relatively dry. Harvest was earlier than usual with perfect weather for picking. In the end excellent quality fruit was harvested albeit in small quantities.

Hand harvested at Eclipse Vineyard on the 15th and 18th of March. This vintage of Eclipse Pinot Noir was sourced from the original 1992 Pinot Noir plantings in Blocks one and Four. Majority of bunches were de-stemmed directly into two and three ton open top fermenters. Every effort is made to preserve as much “whole berry” as possible. This, along with the use of cooling helps to ensure a slow onset of full fermentation allowing the native non– saccharomyces yeasts time to perform an initial ferment before the stronger, more dominant native saccharomyces yeast strains take over and complete full alcoholic fermentation. Plunging was limited to two times each day. A small portion of fruit was fermented 100% whole bunch from this vintage, not something I will necessarily do every vintage. Total maceration time for this vintage was between 20 – 30 days before gentle pressing. All press fractions are included in the final blend. Once the wine had settled in tank for three or four days it was transferred to French oak puncheons for maturation. Malolactic fermentation completed naturally during the winter of 2020. In total the wine spent 12 months in barrel. New oak in the finished wine is around 20%. Whole bunch component is approximately 15%. The only additions were sulphur dioxide post malo followed by a small top up prior to bottling. Bottled Unfined and Unfiltered.

Food Pairing: Drink with Thyme & Rosemary seasoned roasted leg of lamb. Easy on the mint sauce.