Auntsfield Single Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019

Auntsfield Single Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019French oak Black cherry & plum Dark chocolate Polished tannins "Elegant, dense and appealing Pinot Noir with ripe plum, cherry, berry and spicy oak flavours. A smooth textured wine with restrained opulence and a core of fruit sweetness that balances fine tannins. Approachable now but will age well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jun 2020 "Deep, dark red purple colour, impressive. A serious bouquet of dark plum, black cherry and blackberry,

• French oak
• Black cherry & plum
• Dark chocolate
• Polished tannins

"Elegant, dense and appealing Pinot Noir with ripe plum, cherry, berry and spicy oak flavours. A smooth-textured wine with restrained opulence and a core of fruit sweetness that balances fine tannins. Approachable now but will age well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jun 2020

"Deep, dark red/purple colour, impressive. A serious bouquet of dark plum, black cherry and blackberry, really ripe and lush smelling. Medium-bodied and rich, ripely plush and almost sumptuous flavour and texture. The tannins are present but supple and gently drying. Excellent balance overall" Huon Hooke, Real Review, May 2021

Deep ruby colour in the glass. Rich Black cherry and plum fruit is subtly lifted by layers of dark red florals and complex savoury aromas of dark chocolate, cigar box and olive tapenade. The palate of this wine shows a rich silky texture, which is full and concentrated. Pure flavours of ripe berry fruit and dark plum fill the pallet. This fruit is supported by powerful yet fine polished tannins giving a plush yet silky texture with seamless length.

Auntsfield Single Vineyard wines are made from grapes grown at Auntsfield Estate. Each wine shows the distinctive characteristics of ripeness, texture and minerality - qualities unique to the ancient Greywacke rock and Loess clay soils of the vineyard.

The 2019 season was characterised by warm and very dry weather. Regular winter rainfall and a calm spring got the vines off to a great start. Summer followed a pattern of warm days and cool nights with lots of sunshine, perfect for vibrant and pure fruit characters. The natural vineyard yields were very low. We focused on opening canopies and manipulating leaf to create a cool ripening environment, allowing fruit to ripen slowly to optimum ripeness in early Autumn.

This wine was made with a minimalist philosophy, designed to enable the characteristics of the grapes and the vineyard to be revealed. The fruit was hand-harvested, hand-sorted, gently destemmed and gravity-fed to tank. Fermented with a combination of indigenous and cultured yeasts, careful hand plunging was utilised to gently extract flavours and tannins from the skins. Maturation occurred in French oak barriques for approximately 10 months.

Auntsfield continues the proud heritage of Marlborough’s first vineyard and winery established in 1873. Pinot Noir holds a special place in the hearts of the winemaking team. They grow the grapes and make this wine with particular care and attention. The resulting wines are distinctive for their lifted aromatics, silky mouth feel and the powerful expression of pure fruit, ripe tannin and balanced oak.