2008 Brightside Nelson Pinot Noir
Winemaking notes
The fruit for this wine was sourced from vineyards on the Waimea plains. There are several blocks within these vineyards and a wide selection of clones, each of which was picked at optimum ripeness from 24 ˆ 25° Brix. It was 100% hand harvested to ensure high quality clean fruit only.
In the winery, 100% destemmed fruit with minimal crushing followed by a cold pre-ferment maceration of 2-4 days. After 12 to 24 hours some juice was drained from each tank to make Rosé ˆ this increases the skin to juice ratio in the red ferments which essentially leads to more concentrated wine. Cultured yeasts were used for fermentation and the vats were hand plunged for the duration.
Once pressed off skins, 90% of the wine was matured for 5 months in tank with European oak beans. The balance was matured in French oak barriques and 100% MLF took place at this time. The wine had a light egg white fining and filtration prior to bottling in October 2008.
Wine analysis
Residual sugar <1g/l Titratable acidity 6.3 g/l pH 3.62 Alcohol 13.8%
Tasting note
A bright ruby hue gives a hint to the fresh, fruity nature of this Pinot noir. It‚s a medium bodied very approachable style with lashings of boysenberry, blackberry and plum and a generous seasoning of smokey toasted oak. Made to be an early drinking wine with good fruit weight and concentration, there are fine grained tannins and a supple texture with hints of coffee and liquorice lingering on the finish.
Silver Medal, International Cool Climate Wine Show, March 2009
