2006 Kaimira Estate Vintner's Selection Pinot Noir
Winemaking Notes
Half the fruit for this wine was sourced from the home vineyard in Brightwater, with the balance coming from a vineyard in the Moutere hills with rich clay soils Both vineyards have several clones planted resulting in a broad range in the finished blend.
Each block was hand-picked (average harvest at 24ºBx), chilled and destemmed with minimal crushing and given a cold soak for around 5 days prior to inoculation with a selection of yeasts. Once finished, each ferment was pressed off with an average total skin time of 14 days, then settled and racked to barrel. All French oak, 20% new, barrel maturation was around 10 months, with full MLF occurring naturally in the spring.
Prior to bottling in February 2007, the wine underwent a light egg white fining and filtration.
Analysis
Residual sugar less than 1g/l
Titratable acidity 5.5g/l
pH 3.66
Alcohol 13.2%
Tasting notes as at 31st July 2007
Good depth of ruby red colour. Lovely scented nose shows omega plums, black cherries, chocolate and a hint of liquorice. Soft entry with good concentration and ripeness, plenty of fleshy ripe fruit characters and a subtle seasoning of fine grained oak, flavours linger with a smoothly textured and prolonged finish. At this stage, the oak is showing a little hard on mid-palate, which will integrate and soften further with time.
Tasting notes as at September 2008
The wine has settled after 18 months in bottle with the fruit and oak becoming better integrated. Very much still in the fresh primary fruit phase with plums, boysenberry, blackberry, chocolate, brambly spice and liquorice. Its fresh and vibrantly fruity, but with good weight and concentration. Showing no real signs of development yet, this wine has good structure which will see it last for many years.
Accolades
Selected by NZ Winegrowers for technical seminars associated with the Wine for Asia International Wine Show, October 2007. Selected by Bob Campbell MW for regional Pinot Noir Seminar, Queenstown Jan 08. Bronze medal, San Francisco International Wine Competition, July 2008
