Vavasour Awatere Valley Pinot Gris 2024

Description

Dry, Floral, Pear

"Fabulously fruited and immediately appealing, the wine shows rockmelon, poached pear, Gala apple and floral notes on the nose. The palate is equally attractive with fleshy texture and juicy acidity, finishing lingering and tasty. Beautifully expressed with pristine fruit flavours, offering excellent drinking. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Oct 2024

Vivid interplay of fresh nashi pear and crisp apple, underscored by the unmistak-able saline minerality unique to the Awatere Valley. Layers of ginger and subtle floral notes add depth. Seamlessly tied together by a refined acidity and the signature minerality. Lees contact and grape skin soaking impart richness and depth elevating the wines complexity. A compelling and layered aromatic Pinot Gris.

Marquee sites in the lower Awatere Valley, are noteworthy for their wide diurnal temperature swings, contributing to strong personality and incredible balance in the wines. Soils are low in fertility with stones and pebbles mixed with clay and loam. The rainfall ranges from 279-406 millimeters (11-16 inches) a year, very arid by any measure. This stonier, drier, cooler & windier pocket of Marlborough, the Awatere Valley, conspires to produce distinctive, complex & intriguing wines.

Selectively harvested at peak ripeness and received immediately at the winery. Some parcels of fruit were left on skins for a short period to gently extract positive phenolic components enhancing the wines mouth-feel. The juice was then gently pressed to tank and cooled for gravitational settling. The juice was then racked (clean juice being taken off the top of the juice lees) and warmed for fermentation with a portion being run down to older French barrels for fermentation. A combination of wild and commercial yeast strains were chosen to enhance vineyard and varietal purity. Post fermentation the wines were left on light lees through autumn and much of winter to promote complexity and structure. The wine was blended and prepared for bottle in early spring 2024.