Tolchards Wine Brochure 2023 - Magazine - Page 189
NEW ZEALAND - 189
CLOUDY BAY
PI NOT N O I R
The 2022 growing season presented more
of a challenge than the previous three.
It reinforced and reminded us of the
importance of our vineyard teams and the
work they do to ensure the quality of our fruit.
The season began well, with water reserves
replenished by extensive rain during winter.
Spring was gentle, and our protection systems
easily mitigated what little frost there was.
Pinot Noir flowered well despite some
unsettled weather that seemed determined
to rain on our parade.
We undertook extensive crop thinning
to create optimal balance in the vines
and mitigate against high disease pressure.
This thinning, combined with long hours of
canopy management as the season progressed,
was vital to ensuring healthy fruit. Harvest took
place under excellent conditions, and we were
able to pick the grapes at perfect maturity.
The Pinot Noir harvest commenced on
March 17th and was completed on April 1st.
Our Pinot Noir comes from the cool clay
soils and rolling, north-facing slopes of
Marlborough’s Southern Valleys region.
The aged alluvial gravels and dense clay
subsoils balance drainage and water availability
to yield the region’s best Pinot Noir grapes.
With over 30 years of experience with the
variety in this region, our sites are selected
carefully and each vineyard is tended with
care. The vines are trained with vertical shoot
positioning to make the most of the sunlight.
The key vineyards for this variety are
Mustang, Delta, and Barracks.
W IN EMA K I N G & BL E N D I N G
The Pinot Noir fruit was sorted using
our optical sorter, before being gravity-fed
into the open-topped fermentation tanks.
The skins were gently plunged, with an
average of 21 days’ skin contact, and then
100% of the wine underwent malolactic
fermentation. After fermentation, the wines
were matured in French oak for 11 months,
of which 30% was new.
THE PA LAT E
is finely tuned, with silky tannins and
a pure dart of acidity framing and balancing
out a core of summer berries, soft spices
and a touch of biscuity vanilla. Long on
the finish, this wine evokes warm summer
evenings, strawberries nestled under
shaded leaves and the lingering scent
of barbecue smoke.
