2008 Pinot Gris

VINEYARD: The fruit comes from the Home vineyard which surrounds the winery, and is made up of a variety of
Waimakiriri type soils of alluvial origin. This was supplemented by parcels of fruit from the clay rich hillside
Raupo Creek vineyard. Fifteen different parcels of Pinot Gris were hand-picked between March 26 and
April 9 at approximately 25 0Brix.

CLONES: 2/15, 2/16, 2/21, 141, Mission, Barrie, Sel. Ovaille, 141

VINIFICATION: The fruit was hand-sorted before being whole bunch-pressed and then lightly settled. Wild yeast was used for fermentation, which was maintained at a slow rate by low temperatures to enhance the primary fruit characters. At around 100Brix the wine was transferred to older French barriques to finish fermentation and then to sit on yeast lees for six months.

The finished wine has an alcohol of 14.5 percent, pH of 3.45, 7g/L titratable acid and 4.8g/L residual sugar.

WINEMAKER'S NOTES: The nose exhibits aromas of stone-fruit, ripe pear and citrus with hints of smoke and an underlying minerality. The weighty palate is richly textured, with background creaminess from lees contact, balanced by a fresh acidity providing a lingering finish. Drinking well now, but this wine will cellar for the next five years.

CELLARING POTENTIAL: Drinking well now but will improve over the next five years.

"It's a hard road finding the perfect pinot gris and here is one of the very few that stands out from the crowd in style, body, taste and sheer drinkability. This is a stunner from cinematographer Michael Seresin's Marlborough vineyard, which is steadily being converted to biodynamic. It's worth every cent. Ignore the others."
Joelle Thomson, MindFOOD (NZ) May, 2009

"90 Points.
The 2008 Pinot Gris has a slightly grassy nose with touches of butterscotch and dried lychee. Once again, natural with very good definition. The palate is medium-bodied, very harmonious with some crisp apple and pear notes, superb acidity and great freshness and poise towards the finish. Pinot Gris does not get much better than this and it lingers wonderfully in the mouth."
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate #184, September, 2009

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