2014 Whitehaven Pinot Noir

Colour / Appearance:Deep ruby with a garnet hue.
Aroma / Bouquet:Lifted cherry and ripe plums, with savoury, toasty notes from the oak.
Palate:A full bodied wine, with bright red fruit flavours and well integrated oak. The supple tannins give the wine a silky, plush texture and a lengthy finish.
Cellaring:Will age well with careful cellaring for three to six years.
Food Match:Enjoy this wine with game meats and venison
Serve:Serve at room temperature

Wine Analysis

Alcohol:14.0
Residual Sugar:<2.0
Titratable Acidity:5.6
pH:3.61

Viticulture

Harvest Date:20th March – 5th April 2014
Climate:The season started with an early budburst due to a warm winter. A warm, dry spring and early summer resulted in ideal growing conditions and healthy yields. Mid-season rain spells also aided plant growth and canopy rigour. Some cooler weather over January was followed by a warm, dry ripening period.
Vine Management:The fruit for this wine was sourced from five vineyards located in the Awatere, Wairau and Southern Valley sub-regions of Marlborough. All fruit was grown on a standard two cane trellis, with shoot thinning to ensure a healthy, open canopy. Fruit thinning occurred later in the season to ensure all fruit had concentrated, ripe varietal flavours.

Vinification

Winemaking:The fruit was hand-picked in the cool autumn mornings. It was later de-stemmed and transferred to open top fermenting vats to cold soak for 5-6 days prior to fermentation. Fermentation took place in small vats using selected yeast. The fruit was hand plunged 3-4 times daily to ensure gentle colour and flavour extraction. Racked to new (44%) and 1 and 2 year old French oak barrels, the wine was left to mature and underwent a spontaneous malolactic fermentation in spring. The wine was barrel aged for 11 months prior to bottling in March 2015.
Winemaker:Sam Smail and Rowan Langdon.

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2014

Pinot Noir