Swiftsure Bannockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022 (by Man O’ War)

Description

Cherry, Oak, Rhubarb

"Aromatic pinot noir with floral/red rose/violet, cherry, red-fleshed plum, wild thyme and raspberry flavours. Purity and restrained power with an impressively lengthy finish. Deliciously accessible wine with obvious cellaring potential" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Aug 2023

"Distinctive, complex and enticing bouquet of ripe dark-skinned cherry and baked raspberry, there’s a classic savoury cool climate scents, layers of barrel spice wood smoke and wild thyme. Dry, taut, youthful, savoury, textured and varietal - all as the wine touches the palate for the first time. A delicious core of ripe red berry fruits from cherry to raspberry, some black currant and savoury spices. Well made, complex and lengthy, a wine that needs some maturation time with best drinking from 2026 through 2034+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Nov 2023

Established across gentle north-facing slopes on a natural river terrace, our Bannockburn vineyard is planted exclusively in Pinot Noir. The inaugural release of Swiftsure Bannockburn Pinot Noir has a powerful aromatic; both fruitful and savoury with boysenberry, rhubarb and cherry blossom interwoven with tendrils of smoke and a faint scent of nori. The palate shows good density with a succession of berry fruit characters and a touch more of the umami feel. The tannins are wrapped in the warmth of vintage days with a vibrancy that evokes the cool jewelled Central Otago night sky. This beautifully crafted Pinot Noir is a fine expression of the Bannockburn sub- region; intense but perfumed, poised yet slightly wild. Structured with finesse, designed for long-term aging and an equal measure of youthful exuberance that will reward early drinking.

Estate grown and hand-picked from the stunning 2022 vintage. All four clones were picked separately and destemmed with 15% whole bunches layered into the fermenter. A small batch of all the clones combined was also fermented as a whole bunch component giving the wine a total of 20% whole cluster. All the parcels were kept at ambient temperature for 4 to 5 days before a ‘wild’ fermentation began. Pump overs were carried out twice daily with a small amount of plunging at the peak of fermentation designed for a judicious extraction of tannin in line with the ripeness of the fruit. The wines stayed in vat for 30 days before pressing to tank.

The wine was barrel aged in 500-litre French oak puncheons with natural malolactic fermentation in the spring followed by blending in late autumn, and bottled in the winter of 2023.