Seresin Estate Leah Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018

Description

• French oak
• Red berries
• Savoury
• Firm, dusty tannins

A sublime introduction to Seresin Pinot Noir. Expressive ripe red berry fruit aromas dominate the nose, that intermingle seamlessly with mature, earthy, savoury aromas. The palate is medium bodied, yet focussed and defined by firm, dusty tannins that are derived from a rigorous selection of French oak barrels.

A 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.

2018 will be remembered as being rather unusual for Marlborough, with a run of wet conditions following a period of warm weather. Fortunately their vineyards all fared well with low yields and careful management ensuring a large proportion was harvested by the end of March. Above all, they will remember this vintage for its fast and furious nature - blink and you nearly missed it! However the resulting wines are showing a great deal of poise, elegance and subtlety. They are beyond excited to nurture them into the bottle and bring them to market.

The fruit was hand-picked, destemmed and cold soaked in tank. The must was then warmed and fermented with wild yeast, with 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 barrels. The wine went through natural malolactic fermentation during 14 months maturation, before it was bottled lightly filtered and unfined.