Black Estate Home Waipara Pinot Noir 2022

Black Estate Home Waipara Pinot Noir 2022French oak Spiced plums Cinnamon & thyme Lengthy finish "A youthful and vibrant bouquet of dark cherry and spiced plums are laced with dried herbs and a natural savoury complexity. As the wine touches the palate the textures from tannins and place are captured first with a firm youthful grip accentuated by acidity and freshness then a stony clay soil quality. Fruit flavours mirror the bouquet then spices from barrel and fruit. A firm dry wine with

• French oak
• Spiced plums
• Cinnamon & thyme
• Lengthy finish

"A youthful and vibrant bouquet of dark cherry and spiced plums are laced with dried herbs and a natural savoury complexity. As the wine touches the palate the textures from tannins and place are captured first with a firm youthful grip accentuated by acidity and freshness then a stony clay soil quality. Fruit flavours mirror the bouquet then spices from barrel and fruit. A firm dry wine with plenty of youthful textures, ripe fruits and a lengthy finish. Complexity is building yet, a wine that needs maturing time with best drinking likely from 2027 through 2037+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Sep 2022

Deep ruby hue. Aromas of blackcurrant, charcoal, cinnamon, and thyme. The palate has density and structure typical of Pinot Noirs from the Home vineyard. Emerging flavours of plum, raspberry, red cherry and clove. Salivating tannin with a persistent bright mineral finish. This is an unfiltered wine with small amounts of sediment. Please allow the bottle to stand and settle before pouring. Decanting will allow maximum expression of aroma and purity of fruit to emerge. Drink now to 2031.

This Black Estate Home Pinot Noir was grown on our Home Vineyard located 6 kilometres north east of the Waipara Junction, in the Omihi sub-district of Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. This is a north facing sedimentary clay fan on a gentle hill side slope. The soils are mainly Awapuni clay with calcium carbonate deposits. The un-grafted Pinot Noir vines are predominantly 10-5 clone and were planted in 1994 at a vine density of 1841 vines per hectare. The new planting completed in 2011 has 2.0ha planted at 6177 vine/ha with 115, 667, 828, 943, Abel, and UCD5 clones. Organic and biodynamic farming practices have been used since 2010. Home Vineyard became fully certified organic with BioGro in March 2017.

Winter and early spring rainfalls meant vines started the growing season in spring with adequate soil moisture. Buds appeared at Home block around the Spring equinox. Some cool night time temperatures in late September and October kept us on frost alert but we were able to avoid any frost damage. Timing of bud burst and flowering ran seven to ten days later than previous seasons but in line the the long term average. Shoot growth was even across the block and kept the field team busy with hand weeding, shoot thinning, and then wire lifting. Post flowering we experienced higher humidity levels than normal which averaged 82% through the normally dry December, January, and February months. Thorough leaf removal around the fruit zone was undertaken through the block and spray intervals were tightened up to manage the potentially high disease pressure from powdery mildew. Harvest commenced in mid March where our field team carefully hand harvested and sorted each bunch of fruit to ensure the best possible flavours of the season could be captured. We are relieved and happy to savour every wine from this unique and challenging season.

Hand harvested fruit was 100% de-stemmed without crushing giving an average of 70% whole berry. Inoculated using vineyard derived yeast the wine fermented for 28 days in 2.0 to 2.5 ton open top fermenters. The vats were plunged using hand and foot one to two times per day during the peak of ferment. Each vat was pressed individually using a basket press. The wines were matured in 228L and 500L French Barrels for 12 months, 0% were new. The wine was then racked from barrel, blended and settled in tank for 4 months and then bottled without fining or filtration. 50 ppm Sulphites added.