Wine Specs
Vintage
2022
Vineyard Designation
Summerland Lakefront
Acid
5.7
pH
3.7
Aging
Drink now
Bottling Date
Jan 2024
Residual Sugar
3
Alcohol %
13.5
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
This wine is juicy with classic Pinot Noir aromas of lapin cherry, blackberry, and white pepper. The taste is layered with red fruits and medium to soft acidity which makes it a beautiful & versatile food wine. Fine Tannins add some extra texture too. Overall a very lively wine which is fantastic with food.
Vineyard Notes
Pinot Noir – often nicknamed “the heartbreaker grape” - usually has very tightly clustered bunches which are prone to mildew as not much air flows between the berries of the cluster. After harvest of 2018, we ripped out our tight bunch Pinot Noir vines and replanted in Spring of 2019 with a new, mixed berry size clone. The advantage of this new clone is a looser cluster allowing plenty of airflow. This reduces the risk of mildew forming in the final stages of ripening. The smaller berries also deliver a higher skin-to-juice ratio which results in extra texture & flavours. You may have guessed it - we are extremely excited with our new Estate Pinot Noir!
Winemaker Notes
At harvest time, healthy & ripe grapes are selected for the wine as we handpick. The binned grapes get processed the next morning, assuring a cool night will chill the grapes down naturally for a cold start in the cellar.
They are then destemmed but not crushed, fermenting in stainless steel tanks on the skins. During the fermentation we use a combination of punch down and pump over to extract flavour, colour and keep a uniform fermentation going. Prior to malolactic conversion the skins are pressed off and the “new wine” remains in temperature control tanks to support the super sensitive bacterial process.
The wine then hibernates unfiltered for 12 months in French oak barriques. We use a combination of new and older barrels, as we are after a gentle oak profile in the wine. Bottled with a screwcap in January 2024.
Food Pairing Notes
Goat cheese or spinach salad with blue cheese crumbles, blackened chicken, wood fired quattro formaggio pizza, panini blt style, BBQ'd Schinkenspeck-wrapped dried plum, butternut squash bisque or tart rhubarb pie.
Other Notes
As our estate vineyard still matures, we recommend drinking this “baby vineyard Pinot Noir" now as it has flavour and finesse but is unlikely to mature into a deeper profile until the plants age and develop more. Small batch. Drink now.