Aces & Arrows Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023

Aces & Arrows Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023The wine exhibits vibrant dark berry aromas with hints of spice and smoke. Fermenting with wild yeasts has created a wine with weight and complexity with abundant flavours of dark cherry and plum. Complemented with fine supple tannins, hints of pepper and spice and a savoury oak finish. This wine is drinking well now, it will develop more complexity if carefully cellared for up to three or four years. Central Otago has developed an amazing reputation

The wine exhibits vibrant dark berry aromas with hints of spice and smoke. Fermenting with wild yeasts has created a wine with weight and complexity with abundant flavours of dark cherry and plum. Complemented with fine supple tannins, hints of pepper and spice and a savoury oak finish. This wine is drinking well now, it will develop more complexity if carefully cellared for up to three or four years.

Central Otago has developed an amazing reputation for the highest quality Pinot Noir and this wine is no exception. Daily tasting of all our small batch Pinot Noir ferments led me to identify the most unique and interesting batches that I then used to craft this wine. 

Shallow, free draining, semi arid sandy loams over schist /greywacke gravels. These soils along with the very low rainfall of the Central Otago region, enables drip irrigation to be employed to precisely control vine vigour thus maximising fruit quality.

The months of January and February in Central Otago defined the season. Both were warmer than normal with January being particularly dry whilst February was significantly wetter than normal. In contrast to Marlborough and Waipara, grape flowering in Central Otago occurred in ideal weather and crop levels were normal. With the crop ripening in March and April the February rainfall was well timed to ensure optimal flavour and maturity.

We employ small batch fermentation in open top tanks. Fully destemmed fruit is held at ambient temperature before fermentation. To enhance the sense of terroir, the wild yeast found on the grapes skins ferment this wine to completion. Fermentation peaks at 32 deg C to best extract colour and tannin and then a period of post fermentation maceration (dependant on daily tasting) which help integrate and soften the wine. The wine is then drained off skins and matured on fine grained, toasted French oak.