Saint Claire Pinot Noir
Colour
Dark garnet.
Nose
Savoury aromas with notes of ripe berry fruit and dried thyme.
Mouth
A rich and fruit forward Pinot Noir with flavours of black cherry and cranberry with a hint of spice. Elegant with a lovely, refined powdered structure leading to a long toasty finish.
At the winery each batch (or vineyard) was held cold for five days prior to fermentation to help with colour and flavour extraction. The juice was then inoculated with yeast for the primary alcoholic fermentation and hand plunged up to eight times daily during the height of fermentation. When dry each batch was pressed to tank, settled and then racked off gross lees to either stainless steel tanks or a mixture of new and older seasoned French oak. The wine underwent 100 per cent malolactic fermentation before being blended, fined, lightly filtered and gently prepared for bottling.
The fruit was sourced from a number of specifically chosen low cropping vineyards from the Southern Valleys region of the Wairau Plain. Leading up to harvest each vineyard was closely monitored and tasted to determine when the flavours were at their optimum and harvested in the cool of the morning
Marlborough, New Zealand
The Marlborough wine region is by far New Zealand's largest, accounting for three quarters of the country's wine production, 70% of its vineyard area and 85% of its wine exports. A Geographical Indication in the north-east of the South Island, it covers the entire Marlborough District and the Kaikōura District of the Canterbury Region, but in practice the vineyards are concentrated around the Blenheim and Seddon townships. Internationally, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is recognised as world class; wine writers such as Oz Clarke and George Taber have described it as the best in the world.
Marlborough was established in 2018 as a New Zealand geographical indication (GI) under new legislation.In the same year, several Marlborough wineries formed an incorporated society Appellation Marlborough Wine to administer a global label trademark and a certification process to further protect the integrity and quality standards of Marlborough wines. To qualify, wines must be made entirely from sustainably grown grapes from Marlborough, comply with cropping rates set annually, and be bottled in New Zealand. Starting with the 2022 vintage, qualifying wines must also be approved by an independent tasting panel.