Misha's Vineyard Cantata Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018

Misha's Vineyard Cantata Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018French oak Spice & cedar Concentrated plum Fine tannins With inviting aromas of baked raspberry pie with hints of ground spice and cedar, the palate has a core of concentrated plums balanced by ripe fine tannins and notes of chocolate Mishas Vineyard is located on a spectacular site in New Zealand on the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north west facing terraces of the 57 hectare estate provide optimal

• French oak
• Spice & cedar
• Concentrated plum
• Fine tannins

With inviting aromas of baked raspberry pie with hints of ground spice and cedar, the palate has a core of concentrated plums balanced by ripe fine tannins and notes of chocolate

Misha’s Vineyard is located on a spectacular site in New Zealand on the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north-west facing terraces of the 57 hectare estate provide optimal conditions for producing world-class Pinot Noir and aromatic white varieties. Our ‘no compromise’ philosophy requires exacting viticulture regimes, hand-picking, and considerate winemaking methodologies.

The 2018 vintage was one of the hottest on record with extraordinary weather patterns resulting in a very compressed season. There were searing temperatures for days on end early in the season, along with record low rainfall. The winds came later and then heavy rains hit in early to mid-February. It was challenging to manage the rapid canopy growth and keep on top of the constant threat of mildew and botrytis. In spite of the issues, we ended up with a very healthy vineyard with a smaller than usual crop due to lower average bunch weights and smaller berries. This resulted in very good fruit concentration and expressive wines. The  Growing Degree Days were 1356 and fruit for this wine was hand-picked at a yield of 3.0-6.6 tonnes per hectare.

The fruit was chilled overnight before destemming the next day, typically as 4 tonne lots in open top fermenters with a proportion of whole bunches (25%) retained. The crushed fruit was allowed to warm slowly for 5-7 days as the natural yeast ferment began to take place. Ferments were hand plunged 2-3 times per day. Cooling was used to ensure the ferments peaked below 32°C. The wine was then held warm (>20°C) post ferment to allow ongoing tannin integration. After an average of 22 days on skins the wines were then pressed to tank where they were settled for 1–2 days before being racked into 300 litre French oak barrels. The wine was inoculated for malolactic fermentation in spring and the final wine selection made by identifying ferments and barrels from all the wines post malolactic fermentation. Aiming to produce an earlier maturing style, the final selection received 17% new oak. The wine was racked once to tank prior to the 2019 vintage, returned to barrel then filtered prior to bottling on 9th Oct 2019.

From the Italian word ‘cantere’ – to sing, a Cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment. With more complexity than a simple song, the Cantata is composed for the more discerning.

Food Pairing: This Pinot Noir is very versatile and great with lamb, venison and veal, and a large range of vegetable dishes especially mushrooms. It is also the perfect accompaniment to game birds such as quail, pheasant, turkey and duck.