FOOD MATCH
Seafood dishes such as shellfish, octopus, snapper, also compliments cucumber or eggplant focused dishes.
WINEMAKERS NOTES
The OTQ Series is a pure expression of Jules’ winemaking skills and her vision to create wines which speak of their place.
AROMA & FLAVOUR
Abundant aromas of pomegranate, tamarillo and watermelon leap out of the glass alongside notes of sherbet and mango with a subtle hint of cream and spice in the background. Tonnes of punchy berry fruit, red apple and nectarine flavours hit the palate supported by a creamy texture and supple, juicy acidity. This dry rosé is elegantly complex
VINTAGE NOTES
The season started cool and unsettled, but temperatures quickly warmed up leading to an early, quick flowering. The last substantial rainfall of summer was on 17th December and after that Marlborough dried out. This wasn’t obvious early in January as ash drifting across from the Australian bushfires resulted in a lot of cooler cloudy weather to keep the vineyards green. However, the season warmed up heading into February, and the grapes went through veraison in very good, clean condition. In the last week or so the nights cooled off, allowing extra time for flavour development heading into harvest. On Monday 23rd March, as we were handpicking our first Sauvignon Blanc, we heard that New Zealand was heading into lockdown for a month. Thankfully, harvest was able to continue and the weather played its part superbly. Apart from
the stress caused by virus, the actual harvest was a breeze with some of the best condition fruit we have ever seen. The last grapes were harvested on 6th April and brought the surreal vintage to a close for the Jules Taylor Wines team.
VINIFICATION
The grapes for this Rosé were grown in the Branken Hill Vineyard, which is nestled in the Hawkesbury area of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. This Pinot Noir is grown specifically for Rosé, as opposed to using the more common, but less well balanced saignée method of production. The fruit was hand harvested late March in the early hours of the morning. At the winery, the grapes were crushed and left on their skins for a couple of hours to produce the beautiful soft pink colour. The juice was then clarified and racked to tank where it began a long and cool ferment with a selected yeast strain to retain its unique aromas and flavours. Finally the wine was racked off yeast lees, stabilised and filtered for brightness and clarity.