Greenhough, Hope Vineyard Pinot Noir, Nelson, 2017

A single-vineyard selection from vines aged 10-24 years on clay-rich loams and river stone over deep gravels. A generally cooler than usual growing season meant that fruit was ready for harvest about a week later than in the years before, being completed by mid-April. Wild-yeast fermented, 28% whole bunch with minimal punchdowns, and the destemmed portion in open-top fermenters with the cap plunged twice daily during primary fermentation; matured for 11 months in 228-litre French oak
(15% new, 13% one-year), blended in early March 2018, bottled unfined and unfiltered in February 2019. The wine seemed to be in something of a Pinot ‘dumb’ phase when tasted (September 2019), but the quality of the liquid shone through nonetheless, and I’d very much expect it to emerge in more expressive fashion given more time in bottle, from mid-2020. On the nose, lively aromas of slightly cooked fruit, rhubarb and blackberry crumble, and while the tannin was a little grainy on the palate, there was good fruit weight, depth and length, showing good balance and promise.