Greywacke Pinot Noir 2022

Marlborough, New Zealand

13%abv

TASTING NOTE 

Deliciously fragrant Marlborough pinot noir, jam-packed with boysenberries, blackberries and kola nut, intermingled with scents of rose petal and woodsmoke. The palate is medium-bodied and bright, layered with black liquorice, plum pudding and allspice. Finely structured with intense varietal expression, the abundant dark fruit flavours are laced with silky tannins and earthy tones to give a lingering and beguiling finish.

VITICULTURE

All fruit was grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys and principally sourced from the Yarrum Vineyard, situated on the ridge between the Brancott and Ben Morven Valleys, with other parcels coming from hillsides in the Omaka Valley. Typical of these subregions, the wind-blown loess soils are comprised of clay-loams with differing degrees of gravel content. The vineyards are cultivated to a mixture of clones, predominantly the Dijon clones 115, 777 and 667, with smaller parcels of UCD5, 828, 943 and AM10/5. The vineyards are all hillside plantings trained to two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) with a high vine density of 3800 plants per hectare.

WINEMAKING

The grapes were hand-harvested and chilled overnight prior to hand-sorting. Most of the fruit was then destemmed into open-top fermenters, the majority of which also had a percentage of whole-bunch inclusion. The fruit was left to soak on skins prior to the onset of indigenous yeast fermentation, then plunged daily. After fermentation, the wine was pressed, racked and filled into French oak barriques (30% new). Individual clones were barrel-aged separately for 11 months, prior to blending in February 2023. The wine was bottled in June with alcohol 13%, pH 3.72 and acidity 5.6 g/l.