Fire brick hue. Compelling fresh and vibrant aromas of wild forest berry’s, wild rose petal, and humid earth. Dense mouth coating tannins that are tightly wound and gradually melt to reveal rich berry fruits, red current , and humus. The balance gives a clear impression of the highly mineralised sedimentary clay soils of the Home Vineyard. Drink now to 2028.

Vineyard

This Black Estate Home Pinot Noir was grown on our Home Vineyard located 6 kilometres north east of the Waipara Junction, in the Omihi sub-district of Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. This is a north facing sedimentary clay fan on a gentle hill side slope. The soils are mainly Awapuni clay with calcium carbonate deposits. The un-grafted Pinot Noir vines are predominantly 10-5 clone and were planted in 1994 at a vine density of 1841 vines per hectare. The new planting completed in 2011 has 2.0ha planted at 6177 vine/ha with 115, 667, 828, 943, Abel, and UCD5 clones. Organic and biodynamic farming practices have been used since 2010. Home Vineyard became fully certified organic with BioGro in March 2017.

Season

A dry mild winter meant a continuation of the drought in the North Canterbury region. However a mild spring allowed good early spring growth and small but regular rainfalls prevented vine stress in the first half of the season. January’s New Year brought more intensity to the season with high winds and very dry conditions. Vine growth was restricted and our vineyard team worked hard to limit stress on the vine canopy. Humid weather returned in early March meaning we had to ensure ripening bunches had maximum exposure to light and ventilation to reduce the potential for crop loss to botrytis. Fruit thinning continued right up to harvest further reducing crop levels. Considerate picking decisions and careful hand sorting was required to work between rain showers and ensure only the ripest and cleanest fruit was selected. Another unique season with some late season challenges has produced rare wines with great purity, freshness and complex delicate flavours.

Harvest

Hand harvested on March 28, 31, and April 11 2017. Harvest 16.3Ton Yield = 0.85kg/vine Brix 21.6-22.5 TA 6.5-8.0 g/ L MA 2.2-2.5g/L pH 3.50-3.58

Fermentation

Hand harvested fruit was 95% de-stemmed without crushing giving an average of 75% whole berry. Inoculated using vineyard derived yeast the wine fermented for 28 days in 0.5 to 2.5 ton open top fermenters. The vats were plunged using hand and foot two times per day during the peak of ferment. Each vat was pressed individually using a basket press. The wines were matured in 228L French Barrels for 12 months, 0% were new. The wine was then racked from barrel, blended and settled in tank for 5 months and then bottled without fining or filtration.

Bottled

901 dozen 750ml bottles bottled in one lot under screw cap on August 29 2018

R.S 0.15 g/L TA 4.5 g/L pH 3.81 Dry extract 26.4 g/L Alcohol 12.0% VA 0.50g/L Total SO2 23ppm