WAIPARA SPRINGS PREMO PINOT 2009 

VINTAGE NOTES

Fermentation:  Small open top vats
Oak:   100% French Oak (30% new)
Titratable acidity:   6.9g/L
Alcohol:  14.0%

Cellar and Tasting Notes

Each vineyard block was hand harvested separately and delivered to the winery to be put across a sorting table. After de-stemming the grapes were tipped into small open topped fermenters and cold soaked for 6-7 days with daily pump-overs. The parcels then underwent an un-inoculated fermentation with hand plunging twice daily. Post ferment the vats stayed on skins for up to 4 weeks with gentle pumping over until the desired tannin integration was achieved.  After pressing the wines went into French oak for the winter and in the spring underwent natural Malolactic fermentation. The wines remained in barrel until racking, blending and bottling in the following winter.

This classic style of Pinot has been produced from some of the oldest vines in the Waipara Valley. Hand selected, de-stemmed and fermented with natural yeasts, the separate batches were aged in French oak barriques for 15 months before undergoing natural malolactic fermentation and bottling in the winter. This fragrant and elegant wine has characters of bright primary fruit with bramble and forest floor complexities. The palate shows ripe tannins, good weight and elegance.

This wine has the structural capacity for a decade of cellaring. Cellar with the confidence of screw cap.

Awards

Gold Medal, 2010 New Zealand International Wine Show

Reviews

Hand-picked from Waipara’s oldest Pinot Noir vines, the 2009 vintage (4½ stars) was fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured for 15 months in French oak barriques (20 per cent new.)  Full ruby, it is mouthfilling and sweet-fruited, with strong, vibrant cherry, plum and spice flavours, a hint of licorice, and ripe, supple tannins.  It’s still very youthful, but already delicious. Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines 2011

Attractively perfumed wine with cherry, plum and spice flavours. Smooth-textured Pinot Noir with a lengthy finish. A class act. www.bobswinereviews.com 89/100

Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2009 Premo Pinot Noir presents ripe cherry, pomegranate cinnamon stick note with an undercurrent of violets and toast. Medium bodied with good mid-palate concentration and smooth tannins, it has refreshing acidity that gives a harmonious lift throughout the long, layered finish. Approachable now, it should drink nicely through 2015+. 91/100 eRobertParker.com Oct 31 New Zealand: Pure New Zealand, Lisa Perotti-Brown