Region: New Zealand - Marlborough
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 13%
Notes on the Wine
The whole bunch grapes were transferred to open top cuves for cold maceration of 7-10 days followed by wild fermentation. During fermentation, the juice is pumped over and plunged up to 3 times per day allowing gentle extraction of fruit tannins. After skin time ranging from 23 to 31 days the wine was pressed, briefly settled and transferred to 20% new and 80% used barrels for maturation and 100% malolactic fermentation. The wine skips the filtration step, but this doesn’t mean that it stays cloudy. Gravity does the work and the winemakers rack it into a fresh tank before bottling.
Produced from their Pinot Noir vineyards established in 1995 with a mixture of Dijon clones. Two cane pruning, shoot removal, bunch thinning and leaf plucking are just some of the vineyard husbandry techniques to ensure concentrated flavors and desirable sugar levels. Careful planning and meticulous attention in the vineyard keep the grapes growing to their full potential. Overall, great sunshine hours, low disease pressure, light crops, and ripe fruit, all come together to produce some outstanding grapes and in turn some great wines.
Notes on the Producer
In 1990, Allan Scott with his wife Catherine established Allan Scott Family Winemakers, one of the first independent winemakers in the Marlborough region. Allan has worked every harvest since 1973, culminating in 40 years of expertise in the wine business, and he is credited with planting Marlborough's first and now some of its most famous vineyards. With Allan Scott, family roots run deep. While Allan and Catherine remain actively involved in all levels of production, their children Josh and Sara have assumed control of the company and head up the production, management, and development of the company with a highly skilled operational team. The winery has produced wines consistent in flavor and quality year after year while continually evolving to keep ahead of the changing demand of the market. The Scott family attributes its success to excellent vineyard sites, hard work, superb conditions, and a desire to produce the world’s best wines.
