Kelly Washington Pinot Noir 2018

A wine of two temperaments. Our 2018 Gibbston Pinot Noir shows the effects of a riper season, with soft tannins and a profile of warmer red fruits. Yet is still characterised by the heady perfume that encompasses earthy and herbal notes, fine tannins and bright, juicy acidity that is the hallmark of the Gibbston sub region.

At Kelly Washington we seek the most unique and diverse parcels of high quality fruit, which we translate into our elegant and honest wines. We work with a fastidious bunch of growers who have a love for the land, and are unrelenting in their pursuit of nurturing exceptional fruit from distinguished sites. Old vines, high density planting, vineyards of altitude, farmed sustainable, organically and/or bio-dynamically are the attributes we seek from the growers we work with.

Sourced from the Monte Rosa Vineyard in Gibbston, a majestic site, sits on a gentle slope at 350m high, below the Nevis Bluff. A selection of Dijon and Clone 5, vines are 16 years old, grown on Pigburn Soils (wind blown glacial deposit over alluvial schist).

Hand harvested grapes were 80% destemmed, then commenced fermentation naturally, but with the addition of inoculated yeast in small open top tubs, plunged by hand twice daily.

After 3 1/2 weeks on skins the wine then aged in french oak, 28% new, for 11 months with no movement.