Winemakers Collection Nelson Pinot Noir 2014

Wine Analysis

Vineyard: Seifried Rabbit Island Vineyard
Sugar at Harvest: 24.3° Brix
Date of Harvest: Mid April 2014
pH of Wine: 3.63
T.A of Wine: 6.0g/L
Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans: Yes

The Vineyard

The Rabbit Island vineyard is situated on a wide river flat.  The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Maori kumara beds (sweet potato) prior to European settlement in the early 1800’s.  The Maori transferred and spread fine gravel and sand over the land to provide suitable soils for their kumara plantings.  Scrub was burned to give ash and charcoal, which increased soil fertility and gave characteristic topsoil.  This fertility is now considerably reduced due to modern farming.  The soils are however, very sandy and free draining.  The water table is relatively high ensuring adequate underground water.  These vineyards are about 1.5 kilometres from the sea, which helps moderate summer temperatures.

Winemakers Note

The Winemakers Collection Pinot Noir 2014 is a barrel selection from some of our oldest Pinot Noir vines from our Rabbit Island vineyard where vines date to the late 1980’s. Vine age is apparent in this vineyard which has deep rooted vines and produces wines with depth and beauty.

The grapes were picked in mid April at the peak of ripeness and then promptly de-stemmed and transferred to open-top fermenters. A seven day cold-maceration period preceded inoculation for fermentation.  Hand plunging was carried out twice a day during the eight day primary fermentation, followed by a five day period of post-fermentation maceration.  After pressing, the young wine was drained into French barriques where it underwent malolactic fermentation and ageing.

This wine is blended from a selection of the barrels which our winemakers consider to be the very best of our 2014 Pinot Noir.  It was blended and bottled in July 2015.

Tasting Note

This 2014 Winemakers Collection Pinot Noir combines bright berry orchard flavours with background savoury brambly notes.  The palate has upfront fruit characters and gentle spicy oak notes which linger on the finish delicious!