PINOT NOIR - A LABOUR OF LOVE.
Jules Taylor talks about what Marlborough Pinot Noir should taste like to her.
FOOD MATCH
This wine pairs beautifully with appetisers such as a charcuterie plate, or a platter of homemade seeded crackers and smoky eggplant dip.
Get the recipe
For something more substantial, try it with
pulled pork sliders served with kimchi and slaw or a slow cooked lamb leg on a
cooler day.
WINEMAKERS NOTES
What we like about it is that it’s fickle, it’s a beggar to work with, yet, with Marlborough’s hot summers and long, cool autumns it’s capable of producing a stunningly expressive wine.
AROMA & FLAVOUR
Intense aromas of ripe plums, damsons and boysenberries sit alongside notes of dark chocolate and layered over just a hint of spicy, earthiness. It is an intense mouthful reflective of the dry vintage, full of ripe, concentrated boysenberry, plum and dark chocolate flavours and with a weighty texture on the palate. It has loads of supple, fine tannins and the finish is long, spicy and delicious, suggesting a wine that will develop nicely over the coming years.
HARVEST & WINEMAKING
The grapes for this Pinot Noir were grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. This year, tiny berries were hand-harvested in early to mid March when the flavours were tasting to Jules’ liking. The grapes were then whisked to the winery where most of the fruit was de-stemmed into small open top fermenters. The must was left for 5-10 days to “cold soak” with a small percentage of whole bunches to accentuate the delicate perfumed aromas and bright colour in the wine. The must was then warmed and gently plunged by hand to keep the cap moist and extract a good balance of colour and tannins while the wild yeasts got to work with the fermentation. Upon reaching dryness, it was pressed gently into French oak barrels for maturation. After a full malolactic fermentation in spring, the wine was bottled on 10th March, just in time to pour a glass for Jules’ Dad’s birthday.
