2019 Yealands Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir

Bouquet: Notes of dark cherries, plums, violets and warming spices dominate the nose. Palate: The palate is full and structured, yet elegant with flavors of luscious dark cherry, balanced with a fine tannins and mineral acidity. Food Match: This wine matches beautifully with red meat dishes, including venison and lamb. Dietary: Suitable for vegetarians, vegans and a gluten free diet. Cellaring: Drink now or cellar 3-5 years.

The Pinot Noir fruit for this wine was picked when it was showing perfect ripeness and balanced fruit flavours. The separate parcels were fermented with a range of carefully selected yeasts. One portion underwent wild fermentation for added complexity. A fast, hot fermentation proceeded with delicate cap management, to craft a wine with elegance and structure. Post primary fermentation the parcels were gently pressed off, settled for 24 hours then racked off heavy lees and aged in a mixture of French oak barriques and cuves. The wine remained in oak for 8 months whilst it went through malolactic fermentation. It was then blended, stabilised and filtered for bottling.

The 2019 growing season in Marlborough was a hot and dry one. We received small amounts of rain around the end of December, but then no further until late February.
 

These rain events had very little impact on soil moisture levels, but helped to replenish our rivers, setting us up nicely to see us through to harvest. Vintage started in mid-March and it provided us with incredibly stable weather. This meant we could pick blocks at their optimum ripeness, resulting in well balanced Pinot Noir parcels, showing characters full of flavour and lovely weight.
 

Viticulture
Our Seaview Vineyard in the Awatere Valley is exposed to some of the toughest growing conditions in Marlborough; high sunshine and wind, cool nights and low rainfall which produces a smaller, thicker skinned berry with intense fruit flavours. This wine is sourced from two different blocks in our Seaview Vineyard and the unique micro climates within them ensure low yields, consistently producing Pinot Noir with good structure and flavour.