Stone Bay Nelson Pinot Noir 2020

Description

Cherry, Oak, Spice

"Our 2020 vintage has all the characteristics of a classic Pinot Noir. A vibrant mid-red wine that abounds with aromas of red cherry, cranberry and floral notes. Savour deliciously sweet and crunchy summer berry flavours complimented by fine tannins and toasty oak. These flavours are backed by a bright line of acidity which gives length and focus. Each mouthful delivers a pleasingly balanced finish that is round, smooth and eminently drinkable" Time Adams, Winemaker

Sourced from Premium South Island Pinot Noir vineyards the 2020 vintage was another excellent year for Pinot Noir production. Starting with a warm spring, it continued on through a long, hot and very dry summer and autumn resulting in superb, clean, ripe fruit packed with intense flavours. The challenge came when Covid lockdown co-incided with our harvest period. Thankfully we were deemed an “essential business” and could continue with our harvest under very strict Covid health and safety measures.

Parcels of fruit were picked over a two week period from late March to early April when te fruit was at the peak of flavour and phenolic ripeness. The de-stemmed fruit had a brief cold maceration period before individual parcels were inoculated for fermentation. Throughout fermentation plunging occurred twice daily and was tapered off to once daily as the fermentation finished. A portion young wine was drained to French barriques with the balance going to stainless steel tanks for ageing.