Toi Toi Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021

Toi Toi Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021"A wine I tasted over 3 days. Days 1 & 2 a vibrant and intense bouquet of red berries, natural fruit and barrel spices, a light savoury quality and hard stone earthy qualities. Firm tannins and acid line deliver a wine of tautness and palate intensity. Day 3 now becoming more harmonious and reflective of its origins with a thyme and raspberry core, mineral earth and complex layers of spice and flowers. Still taut with a youthful squeeze on the palate,

"A wine I tasted over 3 days. Days 1 & 2 - a vibrant and intense bouquet of red berries, natural fruit and barrel spices, a light savoury quality and hard stone earthy qualities. Firm tannins and acid line deliver a wine of tautness and palate intensity. Day 3 -  now becoming more harmonious and reflective of its origins with a thyme and raspberry core, mineral earth and complex layers of spice and flowers. Still taut with a youthful squeeze on the palate, there’s a generosity and delicious mouthfeel that is sustained and complex. With a lengthy finish this wine will benefit from cellering. Best drinking likely from 2027 through 2034" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Mar 2024

"Complex and enticing, the bouquet shows dark berry, tapenade, clove and toasted nut aromas, followed by a silky-smooth palate offering juicy fruit flavours with fleshy texture and finely infused tannins. Wonderfully harmonious and soothing with a persistent velvety finish. At its best: now to 2019" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2024

Deep red with purple hues. Primarily berry fruit spectrum aromasincluding blackberry and blackcurrant. Other grape derived aromas include cherry and thyme. Secondary maturation aromas include savoury nuances of soy, mushroom and the subtle influence of oak. Lovely balance of acidity and soft front palate tannin which complement the weight of the wine and combined contribute to an impressive richness. Full bodied, high extract and long. This wine matches well with venison back strap with a crust of either cracked pepper or a middle eastern spice blend.

From snow capped mountains to endless coastline, our native Toi Toi expresses itself distinctively across New Zealand. This adaptability is the inspiration for our wines - crafted from New Zealand’s best grape growing regions. Proudly family owned and sustainably produced – protecting our lands for future generations.

The fruit for our Reserve Pinot Noir is grown from three sites in Central Otago; our estate-owned Clutha Vineyard in the Pisa area of the Cromwell Basin, The Immigrants Vineyard located on the lower river terrace area of Clyde, and Mt Dustan Vineyard which is nestled on the rolling upper terraces of the Alexandra basin. Each site adds a unique character to the wines flavour.

The grapes are harvested in mid-April. The fruit is then left to cold soak for 5-7 days in a stainless-steel fermenter and during this time, indigenous fermentation is encouraged to start. At the the height of ferment the juice and skins are gently plunged toassist tannin and colour extraction. After fermentation is completed, the young wine soaks on skins for a further 10-14 days to allow the tannins to soften. This process also reduces the need to fine our wines.

The wine is tatsed daily to follow the tannin development until the wine has reached its potential. It is then drained off the skins which are gently pressed to extract free-run wine. We then mature only the free-run wine in French oak barriques for another 10 months before it's blended and bottled as our Central Otago Reserve Pinot Noir.