Quartz Reef Bendigo Single Ferment Pinot Noir 2020

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 97/100.  Fantastic bouquet, delicate, fine, layered, fruity, complex and seductive. Layers of red berries and dried roses woven between oak and mineral qualities. There a fine savoury, mineral and organic quality that adds its own mysteryand sense of place. Equally fantastic on the palate with texture and energy, a core of red berries and cherry, floral and mineral flavours then a frame of oak and acidity. Complex and youthful, a wine that will continue to develop and age well. Best drinking from 2024 through 2034+. Be quick!

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 96/100 & Top 2022 Wines from New Zealand. A composed nose of rose, baked strawberries, pitted cherries, bark and porcini. Medium-bodied with silky, creamy tannins. Textural and exciting on the palate with an array of fresh red fruit blending and bouncing off the ground spice and flowers. Beautiful and complex. Wonderful now but worthy of the cellar, too. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 95/100 & Wine of the Week & Top Rank. An exceptional wine made under a biodynamic/organic regime. This wine has both purity and power with bright, ripe dark cherry, floral, violet, cassis and a suggestion of fresh herbs plus a touch of spice from classy French oak.

Michael Cooper: 5 stars & Super Classic. The very generous vintage is arguably the best yet.

Tasting note

Deep bright ruby, with a fragrant, complex bouquet. Mouth filling and sweet-fruited, with rich, beautifully ripe flavours, a hint of liquorice, and a savoury, silken finish.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: Red wine

Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir

Food match: Serve with seared duck breast with almond cream and pickled cherries.

Wine region: Bendigo, Central Otago, New Zealand. 

Vineyard: The pioneer Bendigo Estate vineyard. With a vine density of 5,000 - 8,000 plants per hectare on grafted pinot noir clones, planted in 1998. The soils on the beautiful north facing slope are Waenga fine sandy loam and Letts steepland with an elevation from 217 – 264 metres, on 44.55° south.

Winemaking: This single ferment named “Charlee Bubs” has been selected as it best expresses the Bendigo Estate vineyard and the growing season. Hand harvested on the 1st of April from block 4. Cold soaked for 5 days before indigenous yeast fermentation kicked in. Gentle hand plunging throughout ferment, followed by post fermentation maceration of 6 days to ensure optimum fruit and tannin balance. Total time on skin: 22 days. Drained directly into selected French oak barriques (16 % new, 33 % 2 year old, 51 % 3 years old) where the wine aged for 13 months during which natural malolactic fermentation occurred.

Cellaring potential: 2027-2030. A maskuline Pinot from Central Otago that will develop well when you have the patience to cellar it.

Alcohol: 14% vol

Residual sugar: <1 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Produced and bottled by: Quartz Reef, PO Box 63, Cromwell, Central Otago 9342, New Zealand