Hans Family Estate Pinot Noir 2016

Review

Bob Campbell, MW: 94/100. Complex pinot noir with an array of flavours including coffee, plum, rhubarb, mixed spice, cedar and toasty oak characters. A richly textured wine showing appealing 'forest floor' and 'beef tea' bottle development.

Tasting Note

Juicy red-cherries and raspberries for a gorgeous sweet palate entry. Vibrant savoury notes of dried herbs, earthiness and a hint of chocolate. Show-stopping in its effortless intensity and infinite purity. This wine is persistent and balanced, keeping the tannin and acidity interlinked right the way through to the last sip with an excellent freshness. A powerful and rich portrayal of Burgundy’s greatest varietal with Hans’ signature silky texture. A complex, masculine style of Pinot Noir which makes this a very special wine.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: Red wine

Varial: 100% Pinot Noir

Therese Herzog's food suggestions: A perfect match for poultry, veal, lamb, casseroles and pasta dishes.

Alcohol: 14% vol

Residual sugar: <1g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Vineyard: Marlborough, New Zealand

The vintage 2016: A warm spring made for perfect flowering and fruit set. A beautiful dry summer and autumn matched by cooler night-time temperatures made for an ideal long growing season allowing the flavours in the fruit to excel. The team handpicked a tiny yield of less than 700g/vine of lucious, physiological ripe grapes from the 20 years old vines for a vibrant alluring Pinot.

Winemaking: Hand-picking only perfectly healthy grapes allowed a prolonged cold soak for a slow, soft extraction of colour and flavours from the grape skins. The must then went naturally through a wild fermentation for a true expression of the grape variety and its terroir, as it is not influenced by added yeast. In total, the must was left 24 days on the skins before being pressed and transferred into French Allier barriques (40% new) for the natural malolactic fermentation. The young wine was matured for a long 20 months in the same barrels making it a contender for a long life. Unfined & unfiltered to retain the great flavours. Vegan. Natural sediments may show.

Cellaring potential: 2026+.

Closure: Cork

Produced and bottled by: Hans Herzog Estate, 81 Jefferies Rd, RD 3, Blenheim 7273, New Zealand