Mystery Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018 (09)

Description

• Smoky oak
• Ripe cherry
• Sweet vanilla
• Lovely acidity

"Seductively complex and engaging with dark cherry, dried herb, cedar, leather and game notes on the nose. The elegantly weighted palate offers expansive mouthfeel and silky texture combined with rich savoury nuances. Well structured by fine grainy tannins, finishing firm and sturdy" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Sep 2021

Raspberry and bramble aromas seamlessly combine with smoky vanilla oak notes. The palate is round and generous with lovely, ripe strawberry and cherry flavours together with sweet vanilla notes and lovely acidity.

This Mystery wine is sourced from two Waihopai Valley vineyards and is a mixture of clones 5, 667, 115 and 777. The fruit is cropped at low levels which requires the vines to be both shoot and fruit thinned. The vines are carefully nurtured throughout the growing season to ensure the grapes are in perfect condition at harvest.

The grapes were harvested into open-top fermenters for three to six days of cold maceration before fermentation. The vats were punched down three times a day to extract maximum flavour and the wine was left on skins for between seven and 14 days post-ferment before pressing to a mixture of French oak barriques and puncheons (25% new). After ten months maturation, the best clones and barrels were selected for this wine.

Food Pairing: Lamb, venison, duck, pheasant, pork belly, turkey, seared tuna, hot ham, boeuf bourguignon, Coq au Vin, rare beef, dishes with rosemary and other strong herbs, mushrooms, cassoulet, beetroot, seared spiced salmon.