Analysis at Harvest

Sugar 23.5 – 24.2

pH pH 3.37 to 3.60

Acid 7.1g/l to 8.25g/l TA

Harvest date 1st week of March

Clones MV6 (60%) D5V12 (25%) Pommard (15%)

Vintage Notes

A mild and relatively dry winter and spring resulted in ideal flowering and fruit set indicating a large potential crop. As a result we aggressively crop thinned the Pinot Noir prior to verasion to maximise quality. The ripening period during summer was relatively warm and harvest commenced (and finished!) during the first week of March. In summary the season has produced good flavour ripeness with bright and intense fruit flavours, nice structure and good acid balance.

Winemaking

Hand-picked MV6 was tipped directly into a 2 tonne fermenter. After two weeks the fermenter was foot stomped and then tipped into the press and after pressing transferred immediately to second use French Puncheons. Primary fermentation and MLF were completed before winter. The wine was racked once in the spring, blended with regular fermentation batch (this year D5V12 and Pommard) and put back to second and fourth use puncheons for further ageing. It was bottled late February 2020. The final blend is 60 % whole bunches (MV6) and 40% traditional fermentation.

Wine Analysis

Alcohol 13.5%

pH 3.53

Acid 5.7 g/l

Sugar dry

Nose

Foresty/earthy aromas with hints of blackberry, plums, savoury herbs and allspice.

Palate

The complex flavours reflect the aromas. Quite rich overall with a soft entry, sweet fruit mid palate and a lingering finish with good acid and tannin balance. Slightly more full bodied than the previous two vintages.