Misha's Vineyard Impromptu Central Otago Pinot Noir 2015

Description

Medium ruby-red in colour with aromas of wild raspberry, cocoa and chocolate, this Pinot Noir shows sweet succulent strawberry flavours with gentle tannins and a pure elegant finish.

Misha’s Vineyard is located on a spectacular site on the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north-west facing terraces of the 57 hectare estate provide optimal conditions for producing world-class Pinot Noir and aromatic white varieties. Their ‘no compromise’ philosophy requires exacting viticulture regimes, hand-picking, and considerate winemaking methodologies.

The 2015 growing season was the game of two halves – initially very cold and dry, then much warmer than normal. Dry conditions persisted throughout the season with less than 100mm of rain recorded (versus an average of 200mm). The cool temperatures through to the end of November delayed canopy growth. Temperatures warmed up in December and enabled good flowering and fruit set and conditions stayed warm right through until harvest. The season finished with the best canopy growth Misha's vinyard have seen but this was also partly due to less impact from wind. Grapes were hand-picked at 6 tonnes per hectare with acids slightly lower than normal and sugars slightly less than average. 

The fruit was chilled overnight before crushing the next day, in open top fermenters. The crushed fruit was allowed to warm slowly for 5-7 days as the natural
yeast ferment began to take place. Ferments were hand plunged 3 times per day. Cooling was used to ensure the ferments peaked below 32ºC. The wine was then held warm (>20ºC) post ferment to allow ongoing tannin integration. After an average of 24 days on skins the wines were then pressed to tank where they were settled for 1–2 days before being racked into 300 litre French oak barrels. The wine was inoculated for malolactic fermentation in spring and the final wine selection made by identifying ferments and barrels from all the wines post malolactic fermentation. Aiming to produce an earlier maturing style, the final selection received 17% new oak. 

Food Pairing: Pinot Noir is an extremely versatile food wine as it can pair well with either white or red meats. Misha recommends the wonderful match of sword fish or roast salmon.