2020 Pinot Noir
While chaos was engulfing the whole country (and the world) in March 2020, we were busy picking and fermenting our grapes. Vintage is a sacred time in the winemaking calendar and while I was a little unnerved by the oncoming pandemic, I consciously focused my attention and energy on the important tasks at hand.
The year had an extra challenge as we were back to a mild “Old School” ripening season. Having being so used to warm and compressed vintages of recent memory it took some consideration on how to best handle the picking and winemaking decisions. It was a vintage of holding nerves and staying mentally strong, I learnt a lot throughout this vintage and I’m very proud the wines from the vintage. I believe the most complex wines come from the cooler vintages.
The grapes were handpicked on 22nd March and after arriving to the winery, they were split in two separate batches. One batch (75%) was entirely whole bunch fermented, whereas the other portion (25%) was entirely destemmed. Both batches were blended together for élevage and malolactic fermentation in oak. The wine was fermented naturally and had a natural malolactic also.
The wine was blended to tank in December 2020 and bottled in January 2021,
without any filtration or fining.
The appearance is a transparent, vivid ruby.
The nose is deep with tones of freshly-picked red fruits such as strawberry and cherry. Spice cabinet notes of cardamon, caraway and clove blend into sweeter tones of sarsaparilla and stewed rhubarb. Beneath, there are also woody-spiced (whole bunch) notes and forest floor in autumn.
In true “Upper” Yarra nature, the palate is mid-weighted yet lively and not compromising in depth or character in any way. There are aromatic red-fruit tones encompassed with spice, crème Brûlée oak leaning into fragrant sweet toasted red capsicum characters. The tannin is silky and ever-present which winds its way around the supple textured, bright compete finish.
80 dozen bottles produced.
Cellar for up to 5 years from vintage.