2021 Evans & Tate Metricup Road Pinot Gris

Aromas and flavours of crunchy fresh pear, gardenia flower with a touch of ginger spiced apple and fresh bee wax. The palate has lovely flesh and richness whilst still retaining a refreshing but soft acid line and dry finish. Spot on ripeness and overall body of the wine makes for a hugely flavoursome and memorable wine experience.

Picked as cold as possible and later than all our other white varieties at peak maturity - at the height of flavour development but lowering acidity – critical for this variety and style. The cold juice was quickly extracted from the must to avoid longer than necessary skin contact as this variety has thick, phenolic skins. The juice was handled using subtle oxidative techniques without the use of SO2. The cold must was then quickly drained via an airbag press which is the gentlest method to liberate the free-run juice fraction which was then kept separate. This juice was allowed to settle overnight before being rough racked off heavy solids the next day to produce a slightly cloudy juice ready for fermentation – with the aim of contributing a touch of complexing savoury aromatics and texture to the final wine whilst also preserving primary floral aromatics that Pinot Gris is renowned for. 40% was fermented in used French oak 500L puncheons. Following ferment, the wine was chilled and remained on yeast lees for 5 months with monthly lees stirring prior to bottling.