Esk Valley Pinot Gris 2021 - Limited Parcel
To celebrate Halloween and Bonfire Night, we have found the perfectly coloured wine for all occasions this spooky season.
We have a limited number of a white wine, orange in colour, with beautiful aromatic flavours from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. Available at a great one-off price of £11.50 a bottle.The grapes for this wine come from two vineyard sites. The Keltern Vineyard, situated near Maraekakaho, is picked last to help provide the richness and aromatics in the wine. Located on a stony river terrace formed by the Ngaruroro River, the vineyard benefits from warm daytime temperatures and cooler nights. The Barber Vineyard, located in the Esk Valley, is picked early, which provides the natural acidity and freshness to the finish of the wine.
The old vines are spur pruned and intensively managed to ensure lower yields but higher quality grapes. Once picked the grapes are processed quickly and gently, to avoid too much colour and tannins being picked up from the grapes. Pinot Gris is naturally a pinker berry that can add a deeper colour to wines. The juice is left to settle before fermentation occurs in both tank and large old oak barrels. The finished wine was left on its yeast lees with regular stirring until bottling.
Reviewed as having flavours of ripe pears, a tiny bit of spice and ripe grapefruit on the palate. This is a dry style Pinot Gris with peach, citrus and honey flavours. The small portion of barrel fermentation has added richness and complexity. The resulting wine is delicious and highly drinkable.
There are only 36 bottles available of the 2021 Esk Valley Pinot Gris at the price of £11.50, so don’t hang about, grab a bottle before they go. This will be the perfect wine for any spooky gathering.
In a nutshell:
A dry style Pinot Gris, full of aromatic flavours and a beautiful pale orange appearance.
The lowdown:
The grapes for this wine come from a single vineyard called Keltern Vineyard situated near the Ngaruroro river. The vineyard is located on the stony river terrace near Maraekakaho. The old vines are spur pruned and intensively managed to produce perfectly ripe fruit from lower yielding vines. The warm daytime temperatures and cooler nights creates a climate perfect for producing premium Pinot Gris grapes. This influences the aromatics and stone fruit flavours on the palate. This is a well balanced wine with good acidity. Some on the juice is fermented in large old oak barrels, helping to give some subtle oak flavours. The pale orange colour comes from very limited exposure to the skins following pressing.
When to drink:
This is a very versatile wine, that can be enjoyed on its own or with soft cheeses, pork, chicken and seafood dishes.
