Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2009 - Half Bottle

Estate Wines

This wine reflects the nature of a cooler vintage displaying great concentration and balance; red fruits of the forest dominate the aroma and these are underpinned by black cherry, Christmas cake spice and savoury herb. The wine has a dark concentrated front palate, which displays these same characters in abundance. The mid palate is fleshy and well textured, and the wine finishes with a combination of sinewy tannin, fruit and acidity.

Cellaring Potential:

Mt Difficulty Estate Pinot Noir will improve for 7-10 years given optimal vintage and cellaring conditions.

Vintage:

2009 was a vintage with excellent flavour definition – intense cool varietal characteristics with excellent concentration and typically high acidity providing lovely focus on the finish.

A cooler vintage; the volume of the 2009 harvest was down 15% on average. Climatically there was a good start to the season, but December was slightly wetter than usual which impacted negatively on bunch numbers. A typically turbulent January was followed by a cooler and wet February which slowed down vine growth. Good canopy management was essential, with canopies left as open as possible to minimise the detrimental effects of the weather. Central Otago provided its usual long, fine, warm autumn but a week into vintage a very cold spell brought on a cold response in our vines. This hurried the ripening process considerably, shortening and intensifying the season.

Vineyards:

The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they are managed under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty viticultural team and must be sourced from vineyards situated on the South side of the Kawarau River at Bannockburn. Each has a specific terroir, largely influenced by climate, and offers a variety of soil types from open gravels to heavier clays. They are all low in fertility, and include light sands, clays, loams and gravels. Mt Difficulty Estate Pinot Noir is blended from a range of Bannockburn vineyards, with the majority of grapes coming from earlier plantings which are predominantly clones 5, 6 and 10/5. More recent plantings are a mix of the Dijon clones: 113, 115, 667 and 777.

For international shipping options please email info@mtdifficulty.co.nz
or contact your nearest International Distributor

View Tasting Notes