Oyster Bay Pinot Gris 2021

Delightfully fragrant summer florals and juicy pear, with subtle spice and refreshing citrus.

Oyster Bay Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris captures the delicate aromatic flavours of Pinot Gris whilst retaining its natural vibrancy and purity.

The fruit ripened slowly over the growing season, developing flavour intensity and hallmark aromatic characteristics. To capture the subtle flavours of Pinot Gris, we use a selection of yeasts, and lees stir to enhance the wine’s softness and texture. To ensure purity of flavour, we use no oak or malolactic fermentation.

The philosophy of Oyster Bay is to produce fine, distinctively regional wines with glorious fruit flavours.

Hawke’s Bay Growing Region The Hawke’s Bay region located on the East Coast of the North Island is one of New Zealand’s warmest grape-growing climates. The summer growing season experiences plentiful sunshine, but due to its inland elevation also experiences cooler night-time temperatures that allows fruit to ripen slowly. The day/night temperature difference keeps acid levels high in the grapes throughout the crucial ripening period, ensuring the development of the crisp acidity, flavor intensity, and aromatic characteristics of our Pinot Gris wines. Soil Type Naturally free draining, deep, alluvial soils ranging from old stony riverbeds to fine sandy loam over gravels of low fertility

The fruit ripened slowly over the growing season, developing flavour intensity and hallmark aromatic characteristics.

Winemaking Techniques The fruit was destemmed and transferred to tank presses where the freerun juice was run off and separated before gentle pressing of the remaining fruit. The juice was then clarified, racked into stainless steel fermentation tanks, then inoculated with a range of yeasts selected to retain varietal aromatics and character, and enhance complexity and aromaticity. A slow, temperature-controlled fermentation at 57–61˚F (14–16˚C) was undertaken for approximately 21 days. Post fermentation, the wine was lees stirred and aged in tank to add softness and texture. The wine was racked and bottled young to ensure that the aromatic, crisp, and elegant varietal characters were retained.