Smuggler's Boot Pinot Noir

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Handpicked grapes were first bunch sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed and the destemmed berries sorted to remove jacks and substandard berries. After a 3-day maceration in open-topped fermenters, the uncrushed grapes began a spontaneous fermentation. A gentle delastage program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 10-12 days. The free-run wine was racked to a combination of 50% used French oak barrels and 50% breathable plastic eggs with the remaining pomace basket-pressed.

2021 was an outstanding vintage, cooler and later than the ten-year average. Post-harvest (of 2020), there were reasonable water reserves in the soil allowing the vines to successfully build-up of reserves heading into winter. Moderate temperatures and cold units in late autumn and early winter, allowed cold units to start accumulating, 14 days later than usual. Fortunately, winter rainfall was significantly higher than the previous season. A cool early spring with wetter conditions meant the soils remained cool, leading to a delayed growth of the immature shoots by up to three weeks. Flowering and fruit set was characterised by continuous cool conditions with frequent rain showers. Fortunately, the winds were moderate and didn’t break some of the immature canes, as often happens. The downside is that the lower temperatures caused some millerandage. Common gale force winds in November that damage shoots and leaves failed to materialise meaning leaves remained intact for a much longer time. This, combined with plenty of groundwater, created a lush canopy. This meant some extra vineyard husbandry in the canopy with defoliation. Veraison occurred 2-3 weeks later than average giving a much longer hangtime than normal and harvesting began in late February but went deep into March. The wines themselves have a fabulous pH with high acidity and perfumed flavour profiles; alcohols are somewhat lower than average, in fact, the lowest since Richard began making wine. Natural fermentation was extremely healthy and very few barrels struggled to complete ferment.

Malolactic then proceeded followed by a light sulphuring after which the wine was racked off Malolactic lees and returned to cleaned barrels for an 11-month maturation. No fining was necessary and the wine was simply racked and lightly filtered prior to bottling.