2020 Bellbrae Estate Tetaz Pinot Noir

2020 Bellbrae Estate Tetaz Pinot Noir

97 points - James Halliday's Wine Companion

Strong dark cherries & ripe plum define our house style of Pinot Noir. This wine has them in spades on both aroma and palate. Where it differs from other wines in our portfolio is in the tannin department……seamless graphite like texture continues throughout and is ever-present on the finish.

A wine that will reward 10 -15 years cellaring

Vineyard

Hand picked from 8 rows on the eastern edge of our 25 year old MV6 Pinot Noir, this parcel of fruit gets just a touch more sunlight as this side is slightly raised in comparison to the rest of the block. Harvested at the end of March at around 13.4Be, the 2020 Vintage saw heat early in the growing season and a relatively dry summer, which meant that we harvested slightly earlier than usual to preserve the delicate aromatics that we get from this block of Pinot Noir.

Vinification

Using 2t open fermenters, we fermented using 25% whole bunch with 1 hand plunge & 1 pump over per day for 7 days. Pressing occurred upon dryness & the resultant wine was racked to new & 1 year old French barriques for Malolactic Fermentation. Once sulphured, the wine spent 6 months in the same barrels. We blended this wine in late October and the 2 barriques selected were the obvious 2 best barrels. Finished for 3 months in 1 year old French Hogsheads, the final blend was filtered & bottled in February 2021.