Stoneleigh Organic Marlborough Pinot Noir 2021

Description

Fig, Oak, Spice, Vanilla

• French oak
• Figs & raspberry
• Toasted vanilla & allspice
• Medium-bodied

An organic wine grown in living soil. This Pinot Noir wine is a true reflection of the grape. Clean and vibrant, a pure expression of New Zealand nature. This wine is a sultry shade of magenta in the glass. The aromas that emerge first are smoky and savoury, with dark fruits showing next. Blueberries, figs and raspberry compote are complemented by toasted vanilla and allspice. The palate is medium-bodied with fantastic tannin structure, and the fruits are joined by dark chocolate and mocha flavours. The wine has a persistent finish of rich fruits and leather. This wine is released ready to drink after winery maturation, and will enjoy further age in bottle if desired. With careful cellaring for 3-5 years, more savoury, earthy notes will develop.

The fruit for this wine came from our certified organic Omaka vineyard in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. This is in a Southern oriented side valley where the soils are older, glaciated and free draining, and with good nutrients available. Classic sunny days and cool nights promote both good ripeness and fresh acidity. The 22 year old Pinot Noir vines are UCD 5 clones on Riparia Gloire rootstock. The vines are trellised with VSP system, and pruned to 2 canes for careful yield management which maximises fruit concentration.

Niwa Clinfo database and Marlborough Research Centre online Weather data. Season began with good soil moisture reserves. A late spring cold snap followed by a four-day long rainfall event restricted the crop potential of early flowering varieties. The weather pattern swung to hot and dry to finish December, and lead into January and February. This hot dry weather held the canopy growth in check leading into harvest. Irrigation systems were in well justified from late December onwards this season. March and April rainfall was marginally above the LTA but arrived in short sharp events. This prevented disease from dictating harvest priorities and fruit quality was optimized. Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris fruit quality was particularly pleasing with an early onset of ripening and harvest.

The fruit for this wine was machine harvested on 13th March, and brought to the Winery to be crushed into small, open top fermenters. From here, the fruit was kept at ambient temperature before fermentation began. Ferment temperature was controlled at a warm 28-32c to ensure maximum extraction of colour and flavour. Post ferment maceration on skins was 23 days, before the wine was drained and the skins pressed off.v Press wine was combined with free run to add tannins and structure, then the wine was matured on French oak for malolactic fermentation. After 7 months the wine was pumped to seasoned French oak barriques for a further 5 months. The wine was minimally fined to stabilise, and then filtered for bottling.

Food Pairing: This versatile wine will match well with many meals, being supple enough to pair with a smoked salmon pasta, but rich enough to enhance slow-cooked beef cheeks. Try with mushroom or truffle-accented dishes to accentuate it’s earthy notes, or grilled foods with some smoky flavours. Later on, pair with an aged Gruyere for a match made in heaven.