THE VINEYARD
Amisfield Vineyards is a producer of fine wine from the Lowburn area of New Zealand’s Central Otago region. The region is renowned for producing world class Pinot Noir and aromatic white wines. Amisfield Farm was a high country sheep station located 7km north of lowburn on the shores of Lake Dunstan. Nestled between Amisfield and Parkburn streams planting commenced in 1999 and now consists of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Each vineyard block is purposely grown as a component contributing layers of complexity to the overall blend.
HARVEST & AGEING
The 2006 growing season will go down in history as one of the good ones in Central Otago. After the previous 2 years in which winegrowers had little control over the size of the crop, this season the power returned to the vineyard. Spring arrived 2 weeks early with buds bursting in mid-September, early shoot growth was uniform and well paced. By the time spring had turned to summer the entire vineyard had been shoot thinned and the canopies were beginning to take shape. Flowering came and went within a week in early December, the makings of an extraordinary vintage if conditions continued. Settled weather right through to the earliest harvest on record, earlier still than the famed 2002 vintage. This year Amisfield had the first fruit from a new block we call the winery block now that a brand spanking new winery sits in its rightful place in the center of the vineyard rather like the hub of a wheel. It was to this new hub that we processed our first fruit on the evening of March 24th 2006. An auspicious end to a great growing season. For the first time the fruit was processed as soon as it was picked in the new estate winery. The fruit was fermented in a range of custom designed tanks designed to extract different aspects of Pinot Noir. In much the same way as a coffee plunger is going to produce a different brew to an espresso machine, different fermenters allow different characteristics of Pinot Noir to develop. Square fermenters, nicknamed “the reactors”, were used for extract. These tanks have been designed for very ripe, concentrated fruit, extracting the weight and depth out of very serious grapes. Smaller round open topped tanks were used for expressing aroma and finesse from fruit from lighter soils, reducing total time on skins but still optimising the extraction process. Both are hand plunged and allowed to ferment with wild yeast. This year Amisfield experimented with both whole bunch fermentation and some extended skin maceration with spectacular results. The wine was matured in barrel in the new temperature and humidity controlled cellar for 12 months and was bottled in April 2007.
WINEMAKER’S NOTES
The wine is a deep ruby/magenta with a deep concentrated ripe Pinot nose of dark cherries, violets, mocha and spice. The palate is very powerful with lush ripe dark fruits overlaying a seamless powdery tannin profile suggesting hints of cocoa, cedar and minerals. The finish is long and complex with the French oak integrating into the wine perfectly. Definitely a keeper from a stunning vintage. Cellar for at least 10 years.
Date of Harvest: March 27th – April 6th 2006
Grape Varieties: 100% Pinot Noir
Brix: 24-26
Finished Alcohol: 13.9%
Acidity/pH: 5.6g/l / 3.33– 3.76
Residual Sugar: <1g/L