Seresin Estate Leah Marlborough Pinot Noir 2017

Description

• French oak
• Fresh cherry
• Berry fruit
• Elegant structure

"Certified organic, the 2017 vintage was estate-grown in the Raupo Creek vineyard, in the Omaka Valley, hand-picked and matured for 15 months in French oak barriques (10 per cent new). Deep ruby, it is mouthfilling and savoury, with fresh cherry, plum and spice flavours, nutty and savoury, and good tannin backbone. Well worth cellaring, it should be at its best 2022+" Michael Cooper, NZ Wines Buyers Guide, 2021

A blend from two of Seresin's vineyard sites, Leah is named after Michael Seresin’s daughter. Exhibits bright, fragrant berry-fruit aromas, interlaced with spice and herbal notes. The wine is focused and concentrated, with a succulent fruit core, framed by fine-grained tannins and a mouth-watering acidity. An elegant and understated style with immediate appeal, but structure to last.

The large majority of the fruit comes from the clay-rich hillside of the Raupo Creek Vineyard, which is located in the Omaka Valley. A small portion comes from the Noa vineyard grown on Waimakariri alluvial soils, located in the Wairau Valley.

2017 was a memorable and challenging vintage. We had a wonderful warm start to the growing season, with good soil moisture helping the vines to grow well. Winemakers then experienced cold temperatures during flowering, resulting in lower yields and smaller bunches. The harvest itself was fast and furious, one of the most compact they had have ever experienced with challenging rain events just before and during harvest. The resulting wines having strong natural acidity and intense fruit flavours from the colder season.

The fruit was hand-picked, destemmed and cool soaked in tank. The must was then warmed and fermented with wild yeast, and the caps hand-plunged daily during fermentation. The wine was left on skins for 4-5 weeks, then drained, lightly pressed and transferred to aged French oak barriques. The wine went through natural malolactic fermentation during 11 months maturation, before it was bottled lightly filtered and unfined.