Misha's Vineyard The Cadenza Central Otago Late Harvest Gewürztraminer 2019 (375ml)

Misha's Vineyard The Cadenza Central Otago Late Harvest Gewürztraminer 2019 (375ml)"Absolutely delicious late harvest Gewrztraminer with honey, Turkish Delight, lychee and potpourri flavours. It has power and impressive length without being excessively sweet. A very impressive dessert wine" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Nov 2019 Medium sweet in style, this dessert wine has intriguing aromas of baked apricot and apple with hints of ginger and cinnamon and an equally complex palate with notes of manuka honey, hazelnut and

"Absolutely delicious late harvest Gewürztraminer with honey, Turkish Delight, lychee and potpourri flavours. It has power and impressive length without being excessively sweet. A very impressive dessert wine" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Nov 2019

Medium sweet in style, this dessert wine has intriguing aromas of baked apricot and apple with hints of ginger and cinnamon and an equally complex palate with notes of manuka honey, hazelnut and spices.

Misha’s Vineyard is located on a spectacular site in New Zealand on the edge of Lake Dunstan in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. The sun drenched north-west facing terraces of the 57 hectare estate provide optimal conditions for producing world-class Pinot Noir and aromatic white varieties. Our ‘no compromise’ philosophy requires exacting viticulture regimes, hand-picking, and considerate winemaking methodologies.

The 2019 season was a typical Central Otago season in terms of heat with Growing Degree Days (GDDs) at 1149, but what was unusual was the high rainfall and a lack of the north-west spring winds. The heavier spring rains encouraged vigorous canopy development requiring vigilance to ensure short interval spray programs were maintained to prevent any disease. Conditions for flowering and fruit set were ideal for Misha’s Vineyard with a mild autumn with perfect weather to enable ripening. However it was a mixed season across the region with many vineyards impacted by early and late frosts. This was a year to be thankful for our steep slopes and a frost-drained vineyard site. For this late-harvest wine, we manage our fruit on a Scott-Henry trellis and cut the canes on the vine to help concentrate the fruit and flavours and let the bunches hang for an extended time. The fruit was then carefully hand-picked at 4.3 tonnes per hectare.

The late harvest fruit (~16% botrytis infected) was hand-picked into bins which were gently foot stomped and left to soak overnight to maximise flavour and sugar extraction from the desiccated fruit. Pressing occurred the next day. The juice was settled clear and inoculated and then 100% cool tank fermented (~15-17°C) with commercial yeast in order to retain varietal freshness. The ferment was then halted by chilling at what was determined to be the optimum residual sugar level (120g/l).

The Cadenza is an ornamental musical passage usually performed by a soloist at the end of an aria or piece of music. Often improvised but always elaborate, this final flourish is meant to impress!

Food Pairing: This late-harvest style of Gewürztraminer is a perfect match to fruit-based desserts especially those with apricots, peaches, pears or lychees. It’s also a great match with strongly-flavoured soft cheeses. For savoury matches, try foie gras or any mild curries featuring ginger, cinnamon or lychee flavours.