Pinot Noir

The grapes were hand-harvested and chilled overnight prior to hand sorting. Most of the fruit was then de-stemmed into open-top fermenters, the majority of fermentation with partial whole bunch inclusion. The fruit was allowed to soak on skins prior to the onset of indigenous yeast fermentation, then plunged daily.

All fruit was grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys and principally sourced from the Yarrum Vineyard situated on the Brancott / Ben Morven ridge. Typical of this subregion, the wind-blown loess soils are comprised of clay-loams with differing degrees of gravel content. The various source blocks are cultivated to a mixture of pinot noir clones, predominantly the Dijon clones 115, 777 and 667, with smaller parcels of UCD5 and AM 10/5. The vineyards are primarily hillside plantings trained to two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) with a high vine density of 3788 plants per hectare.

After fermentation, the wine was pressed, racked and filled to French oak barriques (40% new).