Maude Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021

Description

• French oak
• Dark cherry
• Smoke
• Velvet texture

"Alluring, fragrant, fruit-saturated nose with vibrant aromas of damson plum conserve, strawberry, African violets, confectionery and cloves. Soft and lush on the palate with delicate red fruit flavours a smattering of spice and long, well-structured tannins. A very appealing wine" NZ Wine Rater

Black currant, bramble, dark cherry, plum, smoke & velvet. A savoury and structural expression of Central Otago Pinot Noir where precision and detail replace volume and mass.

Grapes were sourced from Poison Creek (Queensberry) 65% and Mohawk Hill (Lowburn) 35% in Central Otago.

The 2021 vintage growing season began early, thankfully not too early for the Mt Maude Vineyard which managed to miss the early October frost, bud bursting a few days later. Mid October also proved challenging for us, helicopter at the ready, narrowly avoiding another significant frost. Warmer Spring conditions followed, steady and even growth, flowering began in mid–November, whilst drawn out the flowering indicated healthier crop levels than the previous year. Despite a couple of snow falls on surrounding hills during the latter part of the year, the frost risk was low. Warm, dry weather continued throughout the rest of the growing season and harvest began almost 2 weeks early, fruit ripened to perfection with bold interesting flavours.

Grapes were macerated on average for 23 days with skins on followed by 10 months maturation in barrique with no fining & minimal filtration before bottling.