Mystery Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022 (02)

Description

Herbal, Oak, Strawberry

"Sweetly ripe and inviting, the bouquet shows ripe cherry, strawberry, thyme and toasted almond notes, leading to a finely flowing palate that's juicy and smooth. Well structured by fine, grainy tannins, finishing long and pleasingly dry. At its best: now to 2029" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2024

This elegant mid-weight Marlborough Pinot Noir displays aromatic red fruit with earthy notes and hints of crushed dried herbs. On the palate ripe strawberry, plum, subtle mushroom and black olive flavours are perfectly integrated with French oak and fine chalky tannins leading to a balanced finish with structure and length.

The grapes for this wine were sourced from our vineyards located in both the Awatere and Waihopai Valleys of Southern Marlborough. The 2021/2022 growing season started with a warm spring and early summer providing excellent flowering and fruit-set conditions. Warm and dry conditions experienced over January quickly advamced the ripeness of the large crops, however unusually coll and wet weather in February slowed ripening considerably. Clear but cool conditions prevailed from late February through to the end of March, allowing the fruit to gain concentrated fruit flavours without succumbing to disease pressure in time for the harvest hich began on 28th March 2022.

Grapes for this wine are picked at optimal ripeness before being transported back to the winery for processing. Batch fermented according to block and clone in small top fermenters, the must undergoes a cold soak lasting around 7 days before being warmed and inoculated either with selected yeasts or left to undergo a ild ferment using indigenous yeasts found naturally on the grapes. Once fermentation is complete the wine undergoes a short period of post-fermentation maturation on skins before being pressed directly to a combination of old and new French barriques. These barrels are kept cool in a temperature-controlled cellar over the winter months, before being warmed in spring, allowing the wine to undergoe a secondary malolactic fermentation. Barrels are carefully monitored over this period and once the malolactic fermentation is determined to be 100% complete the final blend is carefully put together and allowed to go through further extended maturation in temperature-controlled tanks before filtration and bottling.