Pinot Noir on Sandstone Soil

Bunches were de-stemmed and 60% crushed and the berries were hand sorted. The mash from the various batches was cold soaked for three days in stainless steel tanks before yeast activity began where colour and some tannin extraction occurred. Fermentation was either spontaneous or some batches inoculated with a yeast culture depending on site - soil and style elements. Juice and skin were punched down with a paddle, known as “pigeage” and turned daily to control even heat distribution between the skin cap on top and must juice below. Tannin and flavour extractions from the skins were carefully monitored at this stage. Once fermentation was completed, the wine was tasted and selected on tannin and flavour attributes and manually pressed in an 800kg capacity stainless steel basket press. The combinations selected were kept as separate fractions to create as many blending profiles as possible before the final assemblage. The secondary Malo-lactic fermentation was completed in 225 Li oak casks and, once all the malic acid had converted to lactic acid, the wine decanted off the solid lees (dead yeast cells)

Further matured for 9 to 12 months in a combination of new, second, third and fourth filled Burgundy coopered casks. The approach to chemical additions and mechanical intervention is kept to the absolute minimum so that the natural integrity of the variety is respected and expressed. Our Pinot is vegan based with no animal products used in the processing of this wine. Once maturation was completed, each barrel was assessed, and the resultant blends of the chosen barrels assembled and then lightly filtered to bottle.