2021 Dog Point Pinot Noir

A bright perfumed, supple expression of Marlborough pinot noir from clay hill slopes. The fruit is supported by bright florals of rose and violets with crunchy red berry fruit and dried herb notes. The palate is succulent with alluring red cherry, brown spices and silky fine boned tannins. This wine has all the makings of a long lived Marlborough pinot noir and matches perfectly with duck, red meats (particularly venison and lamb), and mushroom dishes. Comprising six different pinot noir clones from vines dating back to 1983. Vines are cropped at 5 tonnes/ha (35hl/ha), hand harvested and hand sorted, prior to de-stemming (25% whole bunch included). The fruit is fermented in small stainless open top fermenters without pumping. Fermentation is conducted by indigenous yeasts over a period of 2-3 weeks prior to pressing into French oak barrels (30% new) for 18 months.

Dog Point Vineyard is New Zealand's largest certified organic vineyard by Biogro NZ. We are family owned and one of the oldest privately established vineyards, located on the hill slopes of the Southern Valleys of Marlborough, New Zealand.

We produce four wines including a sauvignon blanc, and three barrel fermented wines using natural (wild) yeasts including a sauvignon blanc fermented in older French oak barrels (Section 94), a chardonnay and a pinot noir.

Wines are vegan, vegetarian and gluten free reflecting our low interventionist ethos. Our primary focus is producing wines of uncompromising quality that will cellar well.

Dog Point is one of the oldest privately established vineyards in Marlborough with first plantings in the late 1970s. The vineyard is centrally located at the confluence of the smaller brancott and omaka valleys. This location is widely considered to be a very desirable area for grape growing in the southern valleys of Marlborough.

The property is sensitively planted to sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir grown under organic principles.

On average our Sauvignon Blanc vines are 25 years old, however the oldest are well over 30 years of age. Section 94, our single vineyard, barrel fermented Sauvignon Blanc vines are 30 years old, and the average vine age for our Chardonnay is 30 years old, with the oldest vines being 40 years old. Our Pinot Noir vines date back to the early 1980s, making some of them approximately 40 years old.

VITICULTURE & SOILS
Marlborough is blessed with one of the sunniest and driest climates in New Zealand. The significant diurnal temperature range between cool nights and sunny days allows ideal conditions for the long slow ripening of grapes.

Soils are crucial to the character of our wine. Most soils have been laid down within the last 14,000 years carved and eroded by glaciers in the high country and carried down to the coast by melt-water rivers.

Older well-established vines are situated on free draining silty clay loams. This is supplemented with more recent plantings on closely planted hillside blocks on soils with a clay loam influence.

Meticulous vineyard practices include low cropping grapes and hand harvested vines.