Auntsfield continues the proud heritage of Marlborough’s first vineyard and winery established in 1892.
Our Single Block wines display qualities distinctive to grapes grown within a defined area at Auntsfield Estate. Consistent quality and character over many vintages has separated these single blocks out as producing our Reserve Wines.
The Herd Pinot Noir – This small one hectare block at the eastern end of Main slopes is situated at the highest elevated corner of the vineyard. It has a unique soil made up of dense Loess over solid crushed Greywacke rock.
Auntsfield The Herd Pinot Noir is the result of a close collaboration between three Marlborough producers — Auntsfield Estate, Sorrell Wines and The Marlborist. Brought together by a shared curiosity and respect for site, the project explores nuanced expressions of Pinot Noir through collective insight and hands-on collaboration. Find out more at www.theherdproject.co.nz.
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR: Deep red colour
AROMA: Splendidly fruited, the immensely complex bouquet reveals Black Doris plum, dark cherry, floral thyme with nuances of dark chocolate, cigar box and toasted spice.
PALATE: The palate exhibits outstanding concentration and persistence. The silky texture is complimented with velvety tannins. A multi-layered, elegant and sophisticated wine.
ANALYSIS: Alc. 14.0% | 3.53 pH | 5.1 TA
WINEMAKERS NOTES
The fruit for this wine was hand-picked into small baskets then carefully and diligently hand sorted to ensure that no less than perfect fruit entered the winery. This fruit was then gently destemmed and moved to tank by gravity. A combination of indigenous and cultured yeasts was nurtured through fermentation in open topped tanks. Careful use of hand plunging was used to gently extract the flavours and tannins from the skins. Maturation occurred in French barriques for approximately 15 months.
VITICULTURALISTS NOTES
Vigour and fertility in this block is very low resulting from the dense Loess Clay and the lack of top soil. Vines are exposed to the strong hillside winds reducing shoot length and reducing berry size. These vines are spur pruned, then extensively shoot thinned and leaf plucked by hand to retain 18 small bunches per vine. The main slope block contributes earthy, dense, rich, ripe and savoury characters result from the high mineral Loess Clay soils the vines grow in.
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