Tohu Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2024

Description

Cherry, Herbal, Oak

"It's splendidly fruited and fragrant on the nose with aromas of dark plum, olive, clove, floral, and toasted almond. The palate delivers succulent fruit flavours, a fleshy texture, and beautifully integrated tannins, finishing long and velvety. At its best: now to 2030" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2026

A deep ruby red hue in the glass, this complex yet elegantly structured Pinot Noir displays dark berryfruit and earthy aromas on the nose. On the palate concentrated flavours of ripe plum and juicy cherry are supported by notes of crushed dried herbs and integrated smoky French oak. Finely balanced with soft, silky tannins, this delightfully enticing wine leads to a long, lingering and mouth-filling finish.

The Awatere Valley is on average much cooler, drier and windier than other sub-regions in Marlborough, resulting a longer growing season and that results in intense flavour development. The 2023/2024 vintage began with cool conditions over flowering, resulting in low yields and loose bunches. The summer that followed provided ideal warm and dry growing conditions,with the arrival of autumn bringing cool, crisp nights, capturing bright acidity and fresh flavours in the berries. Harvest was a dream run for both the vineyard and winemaking teams, with the first fruit harvested on the 20th March 2024.

Hand-harvested grapes from our Upper Awatere and Winery vineyards were gently destemmed and gravity feed into small open top vessels which were then chilled for 7 days before being warmed for fermentation. Following a fast, warm ‘wild’ ferment the wine was pressed directly into French oak barriques. Allowed to age in our dedicated Pinot Noir barrel cellar for the winter months, the wine then naturally underwent malolactic fermentation once the temperatures started to warm again in spring. Rigorous blending and classification decisions were then made by the winemaking team. Once the final blend was made, the wine was left to settle and develop a few more months before being bottled in mid-March 2025.