Middle Earth Nelson Pinot Gris 2020

Middle Earth Nelson Pinot Gris 2020Dry style Figs & nougat Exotic spice Mineral finish "This is instantly appealing on the nose, showing poached pear, honeydew melon, citrus peel and subtle spice notes. The palate displays beautifully rounded mouthfeel and supple texture, well supported by juicy acidity, finishing succulent and lingering" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit Pale straw in colour and medium to heavy bodied, thanks to being hung on the vine till truly ripe. This concentrated wine has

• Dry style
• Figs & nougat
• Exotic spice
• Mineral finish

"This is instantly appealing on the nose, showing poached pear, honeydew melon, citrus peel and subtle spice notes. The palate displays beautifully rounded mouthfeel and supple texture, well supported by juicy acidity, finishing succulent and lingering" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Pale straw in colour and medium to heavy bodied, thanks to being hung on the vine till truly ripe. This concentrated wine has layers flavour, textures and a fullness characteristic of wines aged on lees. There are reflections of exotic spice on the nose and palate, suggestions of plump figs and nougat, followed by a saline-like minerality, finishing clean and dry.

Had it not been for the mightily stressful Covid 19 lockdown, the company collectively would have been skipping and singing in the vines as harvest conditions were truly idyllic. Their growing season had started cool and remained cool with great sunshine hours and then warmed up with perfect timing. As they pushed into harvest record high autumn temperatures were recorded whilst well below average (<50% of normal) rainfall occurred. ­ The crop therefore experienced little to no disease pressure, enabling picking decisions to be made solely on wine style suitability and physiological ripeness. Th­is in turn resulting in the rare treat of great varietal ‑ flavour, concentration and textbook juice composition.

Two clones of Pinot Gris 2/21 and Lincoln Berrysmith contribute nuances to this wine. These clonal parcels were harvested separately but processed in the same manner- machined harvested in the cool of morning, carted around the block to the winery, the juice enjoying a short soak on skins for the extraction of fine phenolics and flavour precursors. The fruit was then put though a quick but gentle press cycle to de-juice. Once separated the juice was cold-settled and racked to achieve low solids prior to ferment- promoting crisper and more pure aromatics. They had two tanks of free run/light pressings juice which were fermented with two different yeast strains chosen on ability to impart mouthfeel and emphasise varietal character. The hard pressings were settled and fermented separately with an alternative yeast strain chosen for an exotic spice character it brings to a wine. Carefully controlled ferments in stainless steel enabled each yeast to sing, drawing out characters otherwise hidden in the matrix of the juice. Once the ferments were arrested the wines were promptly racked off gross yeast lees to fresh tanks. The fine lees were stirred through the wine once a fortnight- slowly but carefully building body and texture into the wine. The three components of this wine predetermined in March by our picking decisions. Each was then individually nurtured in the winery before blending or marrying (as we tend) to say in September. The married wine was then finished for bottling in the first week of October 2020.