Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2010

Estate Wines

A warm, low-yielding vintage has produced a Pinot Noir displaying ripeness concentration and balance; dark fruits of the forest dominate the aroma and these are underpinned by lifted florals and black cherry, balanced with sweet aromatic spice notes. The wine has a ripe 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 ripe, fine-grained tannin, fruit and acidity.

Cellaring Potential:

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

Vintage 2010:

Excellent concentration, with the hallmarks of a warmer season – concentrated ripe dark fruit mingled with a touch of red fruit and a splash of savoury spice!

A nicely odd-ball vintage with warm conditions being over-ruled by ongoing winds and rapidly changing weather systems. Low initial bunch numbers coupled with the climatic variability led to yields being down by about 20% on average. A fantastic autumn helped bring the grapes through their last phase of ripening beautifully. Harvest was the latest we have ever experienced with first fruit not being picked till the 8th April. The blocks which are typically early were late, whilst our later blocks were harvested about their normal timeframe, leading to a very compacted busy vintage.

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 Dijon clones: 113, 115, 667 & 777.

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or contact your nearest International Distributor

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