2023 Charteris Central Otago Pinot Noir
Mid crimson garnet with a ruby glow. Fresh cut Doris plum and black Douglas cherry deliver a freshness and lift over a faint hint of black tea leaf and flint complexity. There is a deep core of primary fruit and a hint of briar leading into spicy Star anise and licorice root dusted with hints of nutmeg powder.
Plush and juicy entry with plum and dark cherry over raspberry coulis. Very energetic, hints of cherry ripe and long, so long, intense but open and supple. The tannins are very slippery and seductive but finish with resonant energy, lively but silky at the same time. The whole bunch and oak, almost invisible but structurally subtextural. Velvet and cherry through to the finish. With a seemingly endless line of flavour, 5 to 7 years in the cellar without too much trouble.
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2023
Varietal
Pinot Noir
Appellation
Wanaka
Harvest Date
20th April at 23.5.0 Brix
Alcohol %
13.5
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Fresh cut Doris plum and ripe late season Black Douglas cherry full the aroma with layers of anise and subtle brown spice rack. Spicy whole bunch lift provides a layer of wild thyme like complexity to the nose. The palate entry is all cherry with a hint of Pomegranate and licorice across silky yet finely textured tannins. The cherry fruit drive sits over integrated oak which gives a supporting background structure. Long plush and generous with a good 7 year future in the cellar.
Supple tannins entwine with silky acidity to give a plush texture across the opulent fruit profile. There is abundance at the heart of this wine making for infinite appear.
Vineyard Notes
Winter 2022 in Central Otago took a while to get going, after a cool and quite dry May, June and July turned cold and wet, good weather for a surf trip to Bali, not so for pruning. August arrived with warmer temperatures and pruning was resumed in reasonable conditions before another cold snap early October which saw some nervous frost fighting nights around budburst. From there on the season built on a warming trend with a mild spring and warm and dry conditions through January and February. A classic summer. However, a couple of very frosty nights in late March put us all on notice again and harvest was underway in early April. While there were some frost challenges, Hawkesbury vineyard copped a belter, we were able to harvest some excellent grapes from all our source blocks.
Winemaker Notes
As our search continues for new terrior amongst nooks and crannies of the Central Otago landscape we only further build our knowledge base of the highlights and challenges this place gives us.
The 2023 harvest sees the first grapes from the Willowbell vineyard at Queensberry come into the fold. This is a new vineyard with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and from this first harvest, looks very promising. Adding to Hawkesbury and Georgetown we now have a very exciting base source of Pinot Noir clones spread over different soils and micro-climates throughout Central Otago.
Our 2023 iteration of the Central Otago Pinot Noir comes from both Georgetown and Willowbell vineyards with an extensive mix of clones adding to the depth of fruit and complexity in this wine, 777, 115, UCD5, 667 and 828 all represented. As has become the modus operandi with this wine we are seeking fruit expression over oak and winemaking overlay, 20% whole bunch inclusion with minimal new oak influence.
We are excited about the direction of this wine as a result of the building blocks we now have, watch this space.
Food Pairing Notes
Peking Duck pancakes will do just fine.
Production
Technical info
- Grapes from Georgetown Vineyard 60% and Willowbell Vineyard 40%
- picked on 3rd April and 18th April 2023
- 30% 777, 27% 115, 26% UCD5, 10% 667, 7% 828
- 20% Whole Bunch inclusion with the balance whole berry
- 12% New French oak Barriques with the balance older barriques
- 360 dozen produced
- 13.5% Alc, 3.43 pH, 6.4 g/L Titratable Acidity