Paddy Borthwick Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2024

Description

Apricot, Dry, Oak

"Stylish and elegant, the wine exhibits notes of poached pear, apricot, fig, and Gala apple on the nose, with a hint of a spicy overtone. It's succulent and beautifully rounded in the mouth, delivering a fleshy texture backed by bright acidity, finishing long and delectable. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2025

"Fragrant, complex and enticing bouquet filled with aromas of white spices, white fleshed stone fruits, baked green pear and apple. There’s a hint of wild flowers and clay soils adding depth and breadth within the bouquet. Delicious on the palate, dry, textured and salivating. Flavours reflect the bouquet with pomaceous fruits and white spices. Balanced, lengthy and well made. Best drinking from 2025 through 2028" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Mar 2025

Perfumed aromas of apricots, nectarines, and green pears. A rich mid-palate displaying mild oak influence. The wine finishes dry and crisp with lingering hints of warming spice.

Established in 1996, proudly family owned and managed, Borthwick Vineyard produces wines that are a direct reflection of the Gladstone region, New Zealand. Ancient stony, alluvial soils, a cool climate, sustainable practices and minimal intervention in the vineyard and winery, mean our wines display distinctive single vineyard characteristics.

The growing season for the 2024 vintage saw an early budburst with high growing degree days resulting in an earlier than usual harvest. 2024 provided a long dry summer and resulted in a harvest that allowed us to pick the grapes when fully ripe and in optimal condition. Fantastic flavour across all the white wines and intense colour in the reds.

Pinot Gris is the new variety in the vineyard for Borthwick Estate, planted in the springs of 2006 and 2007, we chose some of the newest planting material in New Zealand and grafted on to a rootstock that makes the vine work hard to access nutrients and water. The struggle of the vines allows us to restrict the crop load to a minimum, practicing extensive shoot and fruit thinning to ensure the vine is balanced. Acidity is a key factor when choosing to harvest our Pinot Gris; picking decisions are made to ensure there is an acid structure to the wine.

The harvested fruit was processed quickly into tank to retain the vibrant aromas and fresh acidity. The juice is then split into two parcels, one of which is run into older French oak barrels, while the other remains in tank. The tank portion is fermented slow and cool to retain the varietal characters of Pinot Gris, while the barrel ferment is undertaken at warm temperatures to build palate weight. The wines are aged on yeast lees for nine months before blending, fining and filtration.