Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019

Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019French oak Dark cherry & raspberry Fresh herbal notes Fine tannins "Really lovely bouquet of Pinot Noir pure, ripe, plush and fruity. Aromas of cherry and raspberry, some plum and dark rose scents, wood spices and salty sea air with a dry stone mineral layer. On the palate delicious! Flavours reflect the nose with a wonderful purity of flavour, intensity and persistence. Fine tannins, balanced, focused and well made with a lengthy finish. Best

• French oak
• Dark cherry & raspberry
• Fresh herbal notes
• Fine tannins

"Really lovely bouquet of Pinot Noir - pure, ripe, plush and fruity. Aromas of cherry and raspberry, some plum and dark rose scents, wood spices and salty sea air with a dry stone mineral layer. On the palate - delicious! Flavours reflect the nose with a wonderful purity of flavour, intensity and persistence. Fine tannins, balanced, focused and well made with a lengthy finish. Best drinking from early 2021 through 2025+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Apr 2020

"Wonderfully fruited and immediately appealing, the wine shows dark cherry, sweet plum, toasted spice, vanilla and hazelnut characters on the nose. It's equally satisfying on the palate, delivering excellent weight and terrific fruit purity, combined with elegant complexity, finishing gorgeously long and expansive. At its best: now to 2025" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Apr 2020

"Bright, fresh and fruity pinot noir with plum, raspberry, cassis, shoe box and a suggestion of fresh herb flavours. A moderately concentrated wine that's a pleasure to drink now but shows development potential" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Apr 2020

A deep purple in the glass with intense aromas of ripe plum, mulberries and dark fruits and just a hint of toasty, earthy notes underneath. This is an intense little number with ripe mulberry and plum flavours. The mid palate is round and concentrated with the fruit balanced by earthy, savoury and spicy notes, suggesting this is a wine that will develop nicely over coming years. It has loads of supple, finely managed tannins and the finish is long, spicy and delicious. Drink now or cellar for two years for optimum drinking. Cellar up to 5 years.

The growing season began with a roar. A wet winter had left soils saturated, and mild spring temperatures kicked off strong early canopy growth. Flowering was slightly earlier than average with vines in mid flower by late December. A little drizzle during flowering affected pollination and meant the bunches were open and had lots of smaller berries in them. After the wet winter and adequate rainfall during spring, the last significant rain of summer was on Christmas day when 27mls fell. For the rest of the growing season the warm dry weather was perfect for growing disease-free fruit and meant harvest was going to start early. The dry summer reduced the size of the grapes and crops were a bit lighter than estimates had predicted. Vintage itself was really concentrated with all fruit harvested in 22 days compared to the 33 days over 2018. The 2019 harvest is of very high quality with pristine fruit and great flavours. Very low tonnage this year and small berries have led to deeper colour, softer acidity and more pronounced tannins than in previous vintages.

The grapes for this Pinot Noir were grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. The fruit was predominantly harvested by hand over a three week period from mid March as optimum ripeness was reached in each block. At the winery a combination of traditional and modern winemaking techniques have been employed in order to incorporate the benefits of both approaches. The fruit was all de-stemmed into small open top fermenters and cold soaked for between 5 and 10 days. Following this the juice was fermented with the indigenous yeast that arrived with the fruit from the vineyards. Hand plunging during fermentation ensured good extraction of colour and tannins. Following primary fermentation wine also underwent a full malolactic ferment. Portions of the blend remained on skins post fermentation, while others were pressed at dryness before being transferred to French oak barrels for maturation. The wine was bottled in March of 2020.

Food Pairing: Roasted duck breast with green beens with a hazelnut and orange dressing or try a lamb en croute with butternut gnocchi, purple carrot and black garlic.