A nose of ripe cherries and sweet red fruits, complimented by dried flowers and subtle herbal notes. The palate is full and rich with silky tannins supported by savoury earthy notes.

Cellaring
2008 was an exceptional vintage in Central Otago, the moons were aligned and the Gods smiled upon the region. The Moncellier Pinot Noir benefited from such conditions and should mature gracefully over the next 4-5 years.

Viticulture
Grown in Central Otago’s Bendigo region this single vineyard wine benefited from free draining sandy loam soils laid over schist and dramatic diurnal temperature extremes. Coupled with an exceptional growing season resulted in grapes of supreme quality.

Vinification
The philosophy behind making this wine was a very minimalist intervention approach. The fruit underwent an initial cold soak period of 3 days to maximise colour and flavour extraction. The must was then slowly warmed and allowed to ferment naturally with indigenous yeasts to maximise complexity. Once dry the wine underwent a further period on skins of 30 days to enhance tannin structure. The wine was then pressed and transferred to a mixture of new (25%) and seasoned oak barriques to mature for 9 months. Post maturation the wine was stabilised, fined and filtered to complete a truly exceptional wine.

Technical Information
Region: Central Otago
Blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar: 2 g/L
pH: 3.51
Titratable Acidity: 5.65 g/L
Bottling Date: 30/01/09