Viticulture

The year 2001 produced the first Pinot Noir from the Staete Landt Vineyard in Marlborough's Rapaura area. Good dry weather throughout the growing season allowed us to pick perfectly ripe grapes that were absolutely clean. The warm dry flowering season meant that plenty of fruit was set. However, during veraison the cropping levels of the vines were adjusted to 2 tonnes/acre (33 hl/ha) by removing any bunches that were not as well advanced. By this we achieved evenness in ripening across the blocks and fruit with outstanding complexity and concentration.

The summer though very sunny and dry was relatively cool. This aspect is important in that it allowed slow ripening of the grapes and maximum retention of the aromatic character of the wines. The grapes were hand picked from three different Pinot Noir blocks comprising clone 777, clone 115 and clone114.

Harvest Dates: 27th & 31st March 2001
Brix: 24.5 - 25.2

Winemaking

Only hand picked grapes were used for this wine. These bunches were de-stemmed without crushing into a tank where the grapes prior to fermentation underwent a cold maceration phase for 7 days and a post fermentation maceration of up to 20 days. The total time on skins varied per fruit parcel to a maximum of 30 days. The wine was pressed off and settled briefly before being racked straight to barrels to undergo malo lactic fermentation. The wine was aged in a mixture of 30% new French oak and 70% older French oak barrels.

They were then aged on lees until in April 2002 they were racked, blended and returned to barrel. The wine was aged in barrel for a total of 15 months. Finally the wine was again racked from barrels in June 2001 and given some polishing filtration before bottling.

Wine Analysis

Alcohol: 14.0%; Acidity: 6 grams/litre; pH: 3.43; Sugar: 2 grams/litre

Tasting Note

A complex wine that has seen the benefit of long slow barrel maturation partly in new and the majority in older French oak barrels.

This has produced a subtle, tightly structured wine with emphasis on fragrant berry fruit and smoky earth complexity. This is a medium bodied wine with fine delicate tannins and a long finish.

This wine will repay cellaring for three to five years.