We always manage our Pinot Gris vines in a similar way to our Pinot Noir. Canopy management with good but not excessive fruit exposure was important. The vines were shoot thinned prior to flowering and on veraison a crop thinning (green harvest) was carried out to balance the crop. The resulting yield was reduced to 1.8 tonnes/ acre, the equivalent of 28 hl/ha.
The Staete Landt Pinot Gris consists of two small parcels of vines grown in two areas of the vineyard that have higher depth of soil and less river gravel than the rest of the vineyard.
Harvest Dates: 22 April 2004
Brix: 24.1
The grapes were hand picked when they had reached optimum ripeness and flavour development. With Pinot Gris this occurs just before the berries begin to slightly raisin. They were then loaded directly to the press and gently whole bunch pressed.
The resultant juice was settled for twelve hours only and fermented with a proportion of solids in old oak puncheons, some old barriques and a small portion in tank to accentuate the fruit flavours.
A portion of the wine in barriques (25%) went through the secondary malo lactic fermentation to enhance texture and complexity. The wine aged in that oak and tank on very light lees for nine months. The wine was subsequently racked again prior to a light filtration and bottling.
Alcohol: 14 %; Acidity: 5.7 g/l ; pH: 3.3; Sugar: 1.8 g/l
This is a full-bodied, complex dry wine. It is a lovely example of the varietal. It is full round and ripe in the mouth with pears, guava and papaya aromas combined with intriguing hazelnut complexity. It has excellent length and structure.
This wine is very approachable whilst young but will change and become more complex over the next five years.