Viticulture

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 2 tonnes/ acre, the equivalent of 34 hl/ha. The Staete Landt Pinot Gris consists of four 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: 19/4/06
Brix: 23.9

Winemaking

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 (partially with wild yeast, largely with cultured yeasts) with a proportion of solids in old oak puncheons and some old barriques.
Then a substantial portion of the wine (35%) went through the secondary malo-lactic fermentation to enhance texture and complexity. The wine aged in that oak on very light lees for nine months. The wine was subsequently racked again prior to a light filtration and bottling.

Wine Analysis

Alcohol: 14%; Acidity: 6.2; pH: 3.4; Sugar: <2.0 g/l

Tasting Note

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 become more complex over the next five years.