Tasting Notes

Pipeclay Terrace Pinot Noir is hand-crafted in very limited quantities and only released in outstanding vintages. The 2017 vintage opens with aromas of vibrant dark cherry and raspberry notes, whilst lift is provided by violet and red rose floral elements. Supple, dense, deep blackberry with a touch of earthiness grounds the entry of the wine. The wine flows with lively dark toned berry and cherry notes through the palate. An excellent volume of fine tannin is enveloped by the dark-toned fruit, giving the wine a plush, long-lasting finish.

 

CELLARING POTENTIAL

Mt Difficulty Pipeclay Terrace Pinot Noir will improve for 10 -15 years given optimal cellaring conditions.

 

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Vintage Notes

VINTAGE 2017

2017 ended with an average amount of heat, even though the season had a distinctly cool bend to it. A very warm, wet spring kicked off the growing season in style with very early bud-burst. Just as we were entering into flowering, the weather deteriorated with very cool weather right through late December. This impacted flowering with lower than average yields. We began harvesting April 8, and ended April 15.

 

WINEMAKING CONSIDERATIONS

There were two components in this wine, both were fully destemmed and underwent a period of 10 days pre-fermentation maceration. Fermentation took 7 days, after which the wine sat on skins for a further 7 days until it tasted in balance. The wine was punched down every other day during prefermentation; once per day during fermentation and once to twice during post maceration. After pressing the wine was settled overnight and racked to barrel where it stayed for 15 months. In the spring the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was racked out of barrel the following winter. It was filtered but not fined, and bottled in December 2018.

 

Alc. 13.6% pH 3.78 T/A 5.0g/L

 

Accolades & Awards

• 97 Points, James Suckling NZ Tasting Report 2019
• Outstanding, Otago Daily Times 2019
• 95 Points, 5 Stars, Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review 2023

Bottle image

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