Country: New Zealand Region: Canterbury Varietal: Pinot Noir  Vintage: 2019 Colour: Red Style: Dry Producer: Pegasus Bay  Description: “Top equal wine in a tasting of 2017 NZ Pinot Noirs Wow! Fabulous, complex bouquet of broody dark red berries, layers of mineral and savoury whole-bunch and dried herb nuances. Juicy, lush, generous and complex on the palate, with generous oak and ripe, very fine tannins”. 96/100 Traditional Burgundian winemaking methods. After picking in mid-April, the grapes, without their stems, were put into small fermenting vats, retaining as many whole berries as possible. They were kept cool over the next few days to help extract the soft, silky tannins from their skins. After this time the grapes had warmed enough to start fermenting. During fermentation the floating cap of grape skins was twice daily gently pushed back under the wine by hand to keep it moist and healthy. When the fermentation finished the vats were sealed and the grape remnants were left to steep in the wine for several weeks to help extract other tannins which add structure and depth. The duration of this period was determined by daily tasting. Subsequently the wine was drained off and put into oak barriques (30% new) from selected artisan Burgundian coopers. In the summer after harvest, when the weather warmed, the wine underwent malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation. Both this and the original fermentation phase were completely natural with no added micro-organisms. After maturing for 18 months in barriques the batches made from the many different plots of pinot were carefully blended in various portions according to taste to produce this wine.  Food Match:Poultry / Pork / Mediterranean Food