Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019

Description

• Toasty oak
• Red Summer fruit
• Roasted coffee beans
• Velvety tannins

The 2019 Cellar Selection Marlborough Pinot Noir has aromatics reminiscent of freshly roasted coffee beans and red Summer fruits such as cherries and berries. On the palate, a subtle hint of toasty oak nicely frames the juicy fruit, earthy texture and soft velvety tannins.

All the Pinot Noir fruit for this wine originates from Marlborough, with 58% from the southern Awatere Valley and 42% from the Wairau Valley. Soil types range from wind-blown silts to deeper clays. From January onwards, Marlborough experienced a summer of the century, with a spell of long hot dry weather with moderately cool nights providing the perfect environment to ensure physiological and flavour ripeness whilst retaining freshness.

Fruit is harvested at night during cooler temperatures, then destemmed and transferred to open-top stainless steel tanks for 3-4 days of cold soaking to extract aromatics. A mixture of indigenous and cultured yeasts are used with ferments, peaking at 32-34°c to extract the desired colour and tannins. After fermentation, the wine spent 10 months in a mixture of 20% new and 80% seasoned French oak barriques on full lees to add palate weight and texture.