Natalija Pinot Noir 2023 (12x 750mL).

Viticulture:

Pinot Noir vines grown on loam over limestone are hand pruned each year to achieve a careful balance between vigour and yield. The balanced crop is constantly assessed for seed ripeness, tannin ripeness, stem ripeness, flavour development and acid balance. When all aspects of maturity align, harvest is scheduled to take place during the cool morning hours, with the grapes being sorted as harvested.

Vinification:

Cool harvested and sorted grapes were transferred direct to small batch fermenters without crushing. Inoculated with a Burgundian yeast strain that enhances red fruit flavours with subtle extraction after 24 hours cold soaking assisted with additional extraction of flavour without excessive tannin. 7 days fermentation at 24-28 degrees with a percentage of whole berries is undertaken, with gentle cap management applied individually to each batch to achieve balance extraction before the must and berries are gently pressed. Immediately following pressing the wines were transferred to 50% second fill French barriques and 50% older French oak hogsheads for natural malo-lactic and a further 8 months maturation on yeast lees prior to racking and blending. Maturation on yeast lees has further developed palate weight and texture, producing a versatile modern Pinot Noir.