Te Kairanga WPF Reserve Martinborough Pinot Noir 2020

Description

Oak, Rhubarb, Spice

"WPF honours the owner of Te Kairanga, William (Bill) Patrick Foley, who owns wineries in California, Oregon, Washington and New Zealand. This is the first release of a new flagship label—a vibrant, high energy wine with floral/violet, rhubarb, cherry, cassis, and mixed spice flavours. It has impressive density and subtle power. Good now, but should develop well with bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, The Real Review, Sep 2023

WPF opens with an elegant bouquet of ripe black cherry, exotic spices and finely seasoned oak. Powerful yet refined, the palate is long and linear bursting with dark berry fruit and finely spiced tannins. This is a wine deep with character and texture. It will reward cellaring of up to 12 years.

Te Kairanga is proud to present its inaugural release of WPF, our ultimate expression of Martinborough Pinot Noir. Made in honour of William (Bill) Patrick Foley II, WPF Pinot Noir celebrates Bill Foley, a passionate vintner who is the custodian of wineries across California, Oregon and Washington. His devotion and love of wine drew him to New Zealand where Te Kairanga captured his passion. WPF is our homage to Bill and his commitment to this region.

2020 was an excellent growing season in Martinborough followed by an extraordinary harvest. A mild spring allowed good vine growth and flowering with a very good fruit set.
The warm, dry Martinborough summer led to the Sutherland block being harvested in a fine ripe condition with aromatic fruit characters and an elegant structure.

WPF represents our pinnacle of Pinot Noir. Parcels were hand-picked from our Sutherland West block of our Home Vineyards and destemmed into two tanks for fermentation with one tank retaining 18% whole bunches. The wine was fermented on skins with wild yeasts with gentle hand plunging. 100% malolactic fermentation took place in barrel in spring. The wine was barrel aged for 13 months in the finest old French oak before gentle racking. The wine was then allowed a prolonged period to settle in order to be bottled without fining or filtration.