2020 Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Noir
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TASTING NOTE
Colour / Appearance: Bright, medium ruby.
Aroma / Bouquet: Lifted red cherry and plum notes, with a subtle suggestion of blackberry, thyme, cedar, anise, and savoury pie crust.
Palate: Red and dark cherry, baking spices and cola notes provide the core flavours in this wine. The palate is elegant and generously textured with silky, plush tannins and gentle acidity on the finish.
Food Match: Red meat, game and mushroom dishes would be an excellent match with this Pinot noir.
Serve: Room temperature.
Cellaring: Although delicious now, we anticipate this wine will develop gracefully over the next 5-7 years if cellared correctly.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar: Dry
Titratable Acidity: 5.77 g/L
pH: 3.53
VITICULTURE
Climate: 2020 was a classical growing season with plenty of sunshine, not too much heat through Summer and a return to cool nights preceding harvest, ensuring acidities and flavours remained bright and vibrant. This was all built on good rainfall pre-Christmas, which set the vines up with healthy working canopies that held through to the end of harvest. The weather over harvest was settled and dry, allowing fruit to be harvested in lovely condition.
Grape Growing: Fruit for this wine is sourced from Marlborough’s Sothern Valley’s (52%) and Awatere Valley (48%). Vines are pruned on one to two canes on a vertical shoot positioned trellis. Shoot thinning, leaf plucking, trimming and crop thinning are used to achieve balanced vines and an open, healthy canopy.
Harvest Dates: 19th March – 2nd April 2020
VINIFICATION
Winemaking: The fruit was hand harvested during the cool Autumn mornings. At the winery the fruit was destemmed and loaded into various stainless-steel fermenters. A small portion of whole bunches (5-20%) was included into some of the ferments. After cold soak (3-6 days), the must was let to warm up naturally before the onset of fermentation (mostly wild). The wine remained on skins for a total time of 16-21 days, before being pressed off and racked to various French oak barriques (25% new). The wine then remained in these barrels for 10-11 months. Once the barrels were emptied, the wine remained on light lees in tank for 2-3 months before filtration, and finally bottled on the 27th of May 2021.
ACCOLADES
- "Beautifully fruited and perfumed on the nose showing dark plum, sweet cherry, floral, clove and subtle mushroom aromas, leading to a juicy palate offering bright fruit flavours combined with silken texture and polished tannins. Supple and elegant with a lengthy velvety finish." Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, NZ - 5 Stars
- "Bright, ruby-black with good transparency, slightly lighter edged. The nose is elegant and softly full, penetrating aromas of dark herb, red liquorice, entwined with baking spices, underlying black cherries, blackberries and a hint of pepper. Medium-bodied, aromas of blackberries and cherries possess a fresh core, unfolding thyme, rosemary and liquorice, along with cinnamon and nutmeg. The mouthfeel is silky, possesses powdery tannin extraction, leaves an elegant palate, linger with warming spices on the finish. Lacy acidity lengthens with freshness and vitality. This is a silky and balanced Pinot Noir with black fruit and herb details and a smooth appeal. Match with smoked duck and pork rillette over the next 5+ years." Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews - 5 Stars
- "Youthful bouquet with a core of red berry fruits and raspberry, some mineral and French oak spice scents of vanilla and cedar. Youthful, vibrant, fresh and varietal. On the palate - equally fruity at the core with flavours that reflect the bouquet, plus plum and a wet rocky mineral quality. Crunchy and refreshing acid line along with ripe tannins add structure and texture leading to a lovely mouthfeel combination of wood, fruit and a sense of place and time. Well made and ready to drink from mid 2022 through 2028." Cameron Douglas, MS - 93/100 Points, Excellent
