Pinot Noir Single Estate
2016
Spy Valley Wines is one of Marlborough’s few remaining 100% Kiwi family-owned wine companies, owned and operated by the Johnson family since 1990. The winery is located up the road from a Five Eyes Spy base and is known as one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed producers. Established in 1993 on land considered too hard and too unfertile for wine, Spy Valley comprises of 180 hectares of estate vineyards. Pioneering what was then a Marlborough sub-region, the Johnsons continued to develop the...
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2016 was dry and a little warmer than average. There were small bunches and berries with great concentration, and very low crops. The acid and flavour balance allowed picking at moderate sugar levels. The product of two vineyards, Johnson Vineyard in Waihopai Valley and Outpost Vineyard in Omaka Valley. The first vineyard is composed of top terraces with clay/silt loam lenses over free draining alluvium. The second is of variable depth with windblown clay/loess over clay-bound glacial gravel. Direct North facing aspect, on moderately steep hillside slopes. Two cane vertical shoot positioning was performed, along with shoot and bunch thinning to restrict yield.
Handpicked as individual vineyard blocks and kept separate until final blending. Grape bunches are mostly destemmed and all fermented naturally in open vats. After gentle plunging the wine is drained to barrels for 11 months prior to blending.
Aromas of vibrant red fruits, cocoa powder and dried spice. Supple, long, and fruit focused on the palate with a finely grained tannin structure. Red berry flavours with a hint of toasty oak.
Fruit is sourced from the Southern Valleys. Predominantly destemmed and matured for 11 months prior to blending. Steeped rosehips, goji berries and baked blackberries. Split sapote, cocoa pods, granite and tar. A wild lilac or two. Oak notes are subtle and well integrated, letting the fruit core shine. Tannins are sandy and fine with a cassia bark spice. A well-made wine with detail.
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Some leafy and earthy aromas here, as well as red berries and spicy bracken. The palate has a very supple, bright and fleshy feel with a lithe, juicy array of tannins that deliver a smooth and even, mid-weight impression.
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Sweetly fruited and fragrant, the bouquet shows spiced cherry, vanilla, hazelnut, anise and earthy mushroom notes, leading to a beautifully rounded and smooth palate that’s mellow and lingering. It’s elegantly composed and soothing with a lengthy silky finish.
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