Pinot Gris - The Elder Pinot

Viticulture

The vineyard is located on an elevated river terrace at the southern end of the Te Muna Valley, at the confluence of the Ruakokopatuna and Huangarua Rivers. The grapes are grown following organic principles in the most sustainable manner possible, with minimal
use of irrigation.

The Season

2021 will be remembered as a truly unique vintage, with the global impact of Covid19 coming right in the middle of our harvest.Fortunately we were able to work through lockdown (as an essential industry) and complete what has turned out to be very a high quality vintage. Spring was generally benign - there were several light touches of frost, none of which were serious, with few of the strong winds we normally get during this time. We then experienced a prolonged dry spell from mid-December right through to late March. This extended warm, dry summer was ideal for ripening and we started harvesting on the 5th of April. The wines look generous, with lovely deep color, fleshy fruit, and silky tannins and a brooding weight and richness to them.

The Cellar

The fruit was carefully hand harvested and gently whole
bunch pressed with the juice left to settle for two days. The juice was then racked to tanks where it was fermented using a special Pinot Gris yeast to enhance finesse and aromatic intensity. Towards the end of the ferment, half of the wine was transferred to finish in older neutral French oak barrels. After fermenting, the wine was aged on lees for a further sixmonths before racking and blending back together again. This has given the wine depth and richness on the palate.

Tasting Notes

Aromas of ripe pear and nectarine with floral notes come together beautifully on the nose to form an attractive and refined wine. Dry in style the palate shows lovely weight and texture without cloying and has juicy stone-fruit characters and a lovely mineral edge running through the wine. A beautiful lingering finish rounds off a serious yet approachable dry style of Pinot Gris