Rapaura Springs Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2023

Description

Oak, Plum, Spice

"Youthfully charming and inviting, the bouquet shows sweet plum, raspberry, nutmeg and floral aromas, followed by a fruit-expressive palate that's pristine and finely flowing. Elegantly textured and structured, finishing lingering and silky. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Nov 2023

"A very bright and youthful bouquet with a flourish of light red fruit aromas suggestion raspberry and cherry flesh, red apple skin then roses. There are layers of crumbled stone mineral and fine lees with some baking spice qualities from the use of oak - all layering in a vibrant complexity and charm. Taut, fleshy, youthful and dry as the wine touches the palate. Fine tannins and a backbone of acidity preface the core fruit flavours that reflect the bouquet. Well made, drinkable to day though best from late 2024 through 2027+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jan 2024

Our Reserve Pinot Noir has delicious red berry flavours and a full, rich palate. Spicy oak and silky tannins combine for an elegant, lingering finish.

Our Reserve wines are expertly crafted from selected vineyards with impressive flavour concentration and palate weight. Each bottle of Rapaura Springs tells the story of a lifetime. Of water and wine, and of generations of family working with nature. Our label depicts the rocky aquifer at our home vineyard, and the pristine springs that connect it to our land. We make exceptional wines that reflect our remarkable landscapes, pure waterways and passionate people.

The 2023 growing season started with above average bunch numbers in most districts in Marlborough. Unsettled and cooler weather over flowering resulted in loose and lighter bunches, with the net effect of producing average yields across most varieties and regions. The weather around the time of veraison was unstable, and at times threatening. We just missed out on the destruction of the cyclone that hit the east coast of the North Island.

The weather then settled into a pattern reminiscent of the harvests in the early 2000s. The nights were particularly cool, and this helped to arrest any small levels of botrytis that had started in the early unsettled weather. It was a vintage where patience was rewarded and those who waited harvested fully ripe grapes with concentrated flavours and classic acidity.

The fruit for our Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir is from a selection of premium Pinot Noir vineyard sites in the Southern Valleys and Ward subregions. After harvest, the fruit was cold soaked for around five days to extract flavour, tannins, and colour. Fermentation followed, in a selection of small open top tanks, using a selection of wild and selected yeasts. Each ferment was plunged twice a day. The wine was left to macerate for five days before a gentle pressing off the skins. The wine underwent maloctic fermentation while aging in oak. The final blend includes 20% new oak.