12,000 Miles Pinot Noir 2011

IN THE VINEYARD

The grapes were grown at our Dakins Road, Boyd and Biddeford blocks, as well as some fruit purchased from the Martinborough area. A variety of clones were selected for this wine, allowing for a well balanced product expressing opulent, dark fruit from the Dijon clones to the savoury, spicy elements from the structural clones like 10/5 and Abel.  All fruit was hand picked and processed with care to insure maximum quality and site expression.

 
IN THE WINERY

The fruit was crushed and destemmed with about 40% of the fruit left as whole berries. The fruit was crushed and gravity fed directly into small open top plastic fermenters. All clones were vinified and matured in separate batches and only blended together at the very last stage of winemaking. Yeasts were inoculated and the ferments plunged twice daily to help soft extraction of colour and tannins from the skins. A post-ferment maceration was given for up to 2 weeks to give just the right amount of body and structure to the wine. The wine was then matured in individual batches for 5 months before the final blending process. No finings were needed and the wine is a true expression of minimalist intervention, site specific winemaking.

 pH 3.65; TA 5.47g/l; RS 0.19g/l; Alc 12.9%

IN THE GLASS

The wine has a brightness and clarity of fruit at first glance, before the darker, brooding notes come out on the nose. Black cherry and dark plum come to the fore on the palate, with a softness and suppleness of ripe tannins giving a rounded structure and long lasting aftertaste. Some bright red berry flavours are balanced by subtle spice and savoury characters that enhance the aftertaste and give more length on the palate and cellaring potential of up to five years.