2023 Emma Marris Pinot Noir

Origin

Leefield Station Vineyard, Waihopai Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand.

Variety

100% Pinot Noir.

Vintage

A warm and wet winter spurred an early start to the growing season with fully charged soil moistures and warm ambient temperatures in early spring. The few frosts through September and October did little to disrupt the healthy development of strong, lush canopies.

Flowering began with cooler temperatures and periodic bouts of rain in the early summer, with the weather improving as we headed towards Christmas; typical with respect to warmth, sunshine hours and rainfall. Late summer warmth in late February and March along with careful canopy management, delivered slowly ripened, disease free, incredibly
clean fruit!

Harvest commenced in mid-March. Due to the long, cool ripening season, fruit was harvested significantly later than usual but retained all of its vibrancy of flavour and crisp, ripe acids.

The team are excited by the bright flavour expressions and huge diversity of character coming through in the wines of the 2023 vintage.

Winemaking

These Pinot Noir grapes came from a selection of clones grown on our Leefield Station Vineyard in the Waihopai Valley.

Hand harvested into open top fermenters, a portion of whole bunches were retained for structure and complexity. An initial cold soak encouraged colour development, followed by the onset of a rapid, warm fermentation. Regular hand plunging kept the skins in intimate contact with the fermenting juice, followed by a period of extended maceration post-fermentation to enhance flavour development and tannin integration.

The young wines were matured in 80% new French oak puncheons for 11 months, with malolactic fermentation occurring as the weather warmed. This wine was blended and bottled unfiltered in March 2024.

Analysis

Alcohol 13.5%
pH  3.75
Titratable Acidity 5.36g/L
Residual Sugar <0.5g/L
Vegan Certified

Tasting Note

Emma Marris Pinot Noir 2023, a compote of black forest fruits, accentuated by pomegranate, rose petal and tonka bean. This Pinot Noir delivers vivid flavour, concentration and silky tannins. 

Food Matching

The perfect match to Ottolenghi’s Crispy Cumin Lamb with aubergine and ginger.

Cellaring Potential

This Pinot Noir will focus on the primary fruit-based elements in its youth but will show more depth and complexity with time through to late 2030.