Here's the inside of the winery and here, at the beginning of October, is the current state of things.140 barrels of Pinot Noir, 3/4 from Central Otago, 1/4 from Waipara, are all going through Malolactic fermentation at the moment. Yesterday I sent a number of samples to the local hospital who provide a lab service for checking the MLF numbers. I'm hoping most barrels are nearly through.
In the background you can see our tanks. We have about 500L of 2008 Canterbury Pinot Gris which is in tank sitting on light lees. Its really starting to build some texture and develop interesting character over and above the fruit.
Same deal with our 2008 Central Otago Gewurztraminer. About 1000L on lees. A rich full bodied wine which is tending towards Alsace in its style. A little residual sugar, about 14% alcohol and with serious weight behind it.
The other tanks are all Riesling. We have our 2008 Waipara Riesling, about 2500L, which was fermented entirely with natural yeasts and is currently still sitting on full fermentation lees. Ferment stopped naturally at about 25g/L sugar which is wonderfully balanced with its acidity.
My plan at this stage is that this wine will not be cold stabilised or fined in order to keep the wine as natural as possible.
Our other Riesling is our 2008 Canterbury Riesling of which there will be around 19000L. Its made in a lower alcohol (probably around 10-11%) style with around 25-30g/L sugar. The wine actually tastes much drier than it is due to the higher levels of acidity we retain here in Canterbury. On light lees at the moment. Should be a real winner.
Outside most buds are now out and budburst seems relatively uniform with between 1-3 leaves unfolded. No frost issues to date. Everything looking as good as possible at this early stage.
No comments:
Post a Comment