2008 Pinot Noir
AROMA & TASTE
It is a deep plum colour with generous ripe fruit aromas complemented by hints of smoky oak. The palate is round and generous with ripe cherry and plum flavours and complex tannins.
VITICULTURAL PRACTICES
The vines are predominantly Davis and Dijon clones; the Davis is slightly sweeter and the Dijon a more earthy flavour. The rootstock is Schwarzmann, a very low vigour dwarf rootstock. The vines are planted at very high density plantings of 4,200 per hectare and are trained on a two cane system (VSP) with a cane length of only 600mm to maximise flavour.
WINE MAKING DETAILS
Fruit was destemmed into open top fermenters and cold soaked. The must was hand plunged three times daily for the duration of the fermentation.A portion of the must was allowed to undergo wild fermentation with the remaining portion inoculated with selected yeast strains. Post ferment the wine was allowed to remain on skins for up to ten days before the wine was gently pressed directly to French Oak barriques. Wine was aged for 10 months in French oak (25% new) on gross lees. Malolactic fermentation was encouraged and completed by early spring. The wine was stirred in barrel during this period before racking and bottling. The wine was not subjected to cold stabilisation.
