OTU Classic Marlborough Pinot Noir 2023

Description

Oak, Plum, Spice

"Brightly fruited and immediately appealing, the wine shows sweet plum, floral, clove and toasted nut aromas, leading to a silky-smooth palate that's juicy and supple. Beautifully rounded and soothing with elegant complexity, making it delightfully drinkable. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Opulent, fragrant and full-bodied Marlborough Pinot Noir at its finest. The wine displays dark cherry, black plum aromas with light cedar,smoky oak notes. A rich, concentrated palate follows, with fine tannins that will develop further over time.

An exquisite blend of Awatere Valley Pinot Noir from the OTU Estate with Pinot Noir from the Upper Wairau sub region, delivers an intensely expressive and fruit forward wine this vintage. Three clones of Pinot Noir; Abel, 667 & 777 were harvested in optimum condition in late March, fermented in open top tanks and hand plunged for a twenty-day fermentation and on skin maceration. Part of the blend was aged in new and aged French oak barriques for 8 months.

The 2023 growing season was fraught with significant weather events for all of New Zealand, in the form of tropical rain rivers causing severe flooding and the devastating Cyclone Gabrielle, but Marlborough overall was blessed with moderate rainfall, a late but prolific flowering period throughout November and December, and a stunning late, long summer that allowed harvesting to occur at the optimum fruit ripeness. During the ripening period of January through to early March a warm, but higher rainfall than normal seasons maximized the crops for the 2023 season. A sunny, warm and dry finish enabled the harvest team to bring in the fruit with ripe, fruit forward flavours.