Bright pale green our Pinot Gris has a fragrant nose of lychees, pears and some bright lemon sherbet notes. Exotic spices and pears are evident on the palate where balance and complexity are key with abundant fresh acid providing a focus for a full bodied, textured and mealy palate.
Transport in small picking bins the fruit is loaded in whole bunches directly to the press. Minimal rolling and gentle pressure is utilised to extract juice of the purest possible quality. Tasted regularly the pure free run is separated into stainless steel for rough settling and subsequent fermentation with selected aromatic yeasts. The next press fraction is also separated and undergoes fermentation in old French oak barrels. Following a cool fermentation both fractions benefited from extended lees contact of between one and three months. Careful blending of the parcels was then undertaken and the resultant wine was filtered with no fining or other adjustment prior to bottling.
Estate grown with pride on our Whenua Matua vineyard in the Upper Moutere clay soils of Nelson the vines are trained to two canes on a vertical shoot positioned trellis system. Rigorous shoot and crop thinning combined with an open canopy produced fruit in optimum condition and ripeness. The 2009 vintage provided very dry and calm weather with no rain pressure that allowed the fruit to be all hand harvested over a period of 11 days from the 30th March to 9th April and ranging in sugar levels from 21.8 to 23.9 Brix. Perfectly clean and in immaculate condition our 2009 Pinot Gris fruit was a testament to the passion and dedication of our skilled vineyard team.
This Pinot Gris is a great match with many foods and will complement particularly will complement particularly well Asian dishes and light pasta and pizza meals.
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