Terra Sancta Estate Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023

Description

Oak, Plum, Spice

Medium ruby, with a lifted and alluring perfume of brambles, violets and red berries. On the palate outstanding quality Pinot Noir from select blocks of Terra Sancta Estate is evident in its complexity and harmony, with vivacious bright red berries, plums, spice and minerality. With a full mouth feel and tannins that coat the palate, this is an elegant Bannockburn Pinot Noir displaying the character and beauty of its Bannockburn birth place.

The Estate Pinot Noir expresses the unique terroir of Terra Sancta Estate on Felton Road, reflecting the aspect, soil type, vine age and microclimate of each block that contributes to the final Estate Pinot Noir. Fruit in the darker berries and stone fruit spectrum is a hallmark of the Felton Road side of Bannockburn which is evident in this wine. This wine’s depth and character can be attributed to the majority of fruit being sourced from our oldest vines on Slapjack Block and Sarah’s Block.

A cold spring with a high number of frosts got the season off to a shaky start, however dedicated frost-fighting protected our vines during budburst. Timely rainfall and warm weather during late spring and early summer created ideal growing conditions all the way through to early March when frosts struck again. Harvest began on 24 March however cool weather and rain slowed ripening, prolonging the harvest period with the last fruit picked on 4 May. The 2023 vintage is characterised by minerality, purity, and precision.

Picked early to capture natural acidity and freshness, the Estate Pinot Noir was fermented with wild yeast and aged for 10 months in a mixture of barrique and large format oak. Made with no additives, it was neither fined nor filtered, and was bottled on site at Terra Sancta in March 2024.