Region: Central Otago Grapes: Pinot Noir First Glance: Powerful, Spiced, Silky, Detailed
The Wine: The unique gravity flow winery enables the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, retaining 20% as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins extracts good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. The wine was aged for 13 months in 25% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers.
A vivid nose of deep florals: dark roses, violets, and an undertow of ripe red fruit. The palate really shows the best of each vineyard that makes up the cuvée. A pure but powerful drive of fruit on a perfect cusp of ripeness, with complexing notes of sandalwood and spice. This is all about harmony and balance with the transparency of fruit allowing the detail to shine through. Silken tannins finish the package.
