Marlborough

Even as a young wine this Pinot Gris is impressively complex on the nose with pear, baked apple,hot pastry,cinnamon with subtle citrus,vanilla and chocolate tones. The palate is off-dry with a rich round mouthfeel and great concentration. Citrus,crisp apple and tinned pear flavours all feature strongly while creamy autolysis and vanilla oak notes provide depth and complexity.

Enjoy in moderation with freshly grilled crayfish.

Marcus Wright / Rebecca Wiffen.

The grapes were gently pressed with the free run juice settled overnight before fermentation in stainless steel tanks at cool temperatures to retain the fruit characters.Post fermentation the wine was aged on light yeast lees to add texture and subtle flavours.The pressings(25% of the blend) were fermented in older French oak barriques with wild yeasts.This portion is rich,round and provides body,spice and has a big impact on the wines mouthfeel.

The grapes for this wine were predominantly sourced from our Chaytors Road vineyard. This site is relatively early and has lovely free draining gravel and silt soils. A rigorous program of shoot thinning,hand leaf plucking and early crop removal allowed excellent ripining and a small intensely flavoured crop(2.6 tonnes/acre). A small amount of noble botrytis has addded subtle dried apricot and stonefruit flavours.Several other small parcels of fruit from the Wairau Valley managed in a similar manner made up the rest of the blend.

This wine will drink at its best over the next two to three years.

Alcohol: 14 % pH: 3.55 Residual Sugar: 6.5 g/L Total Acidity: 5.1 g/L Brix: 23.5 - 24