2011 Vintage Report

The Martinborough district couldn’t be happier with 2011. Large crops in general, very clean and healthy with excellent ripe fruit flavours.

It all started with the best spring since 2001. NO FROSTS, warm mild conditions and little wind. This meant good early growth with little damage to young shoots and leaves. This weather continued into a warm dry December where all varieties flowered very successfully. Large bunches were set (around 120gms where under 100 is more the norm in Martinborough). The warm weather meant a fast start to berry development and we were already thinking of an early harvest.

The summer progressed along the same lines with warm dry weather making growing conditions ideal right up until veraison (early February).

The critical period from veraison till harvest was just as good. During this time we want warm dry weather to alleviate any risks of disease (Botrytis) and to build up those all important fruit flavours. Due to the great spring and large bunch weights fruit thinning (green harvest) was required in most blocks. Up to 30% was dropped at veraison which is a very hard thing to witness. I had to leave Dave and his team to it and try and take a break before it all starts about 6 weeks later. This year 2 weeks in the UK, marketing, kept me out of the way so there was no interference from the top!

We started harvest about 10 days early on the 20th March. Our 2 American vintage hands, 2 metre Peter and Marissa (I know nothing about chickens) were keen and ready to go!

Huw and Dave were fully ready as well which was a great effort given how fast the season progressed. Huw has to have all of the previous vintage bottled before we start harvesting or it won’t fit in our under capacity winery in a big year.

The fruit was perfect especially Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. The unique thing about 2011 was the fact that sugar levels didn’t go through the roof. For some reason, I think for the first time in 30 years of winemaking in NZ, we were picking grapes with low acids and low pH levels. Winemakers are obsessed with low pH’s and NZ usually doesn’t oblige in this area. Perhaps we are finally seeing one of the benefits of vine age.

Escarpment picked some of the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir I have ever seen in this district. The lack of disease, great flavours and ideal sugar/acid/pH balances were a joy to work with.

In the end, we now have lovely ripe flavoured, dark coloured Pinot noir quietly maturing in oak in our underground barrel room. The Chardonnays and Pinot gris natural ferments have behaved and finished off clean and dry. A great relief to Huwey who is off to Domaine Dujac in Morey St Denis to do it all again in August.

For the rest of us its heads down and on with the pruning setting the vines up for another shuffle of the deck.

I’m lucky enough to be invited to the International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville Oregon in July so will be able to report on that during August.

For many years, Martinborough winemaker Larry McKenna was fuelled with the desire to craft a Pinot Noir that was purely dedicated to expressing the unique vineyard characteristics, collectively known as terroir, of the Martinborough Terraces. In 2003, treading in the historic footsteps of Burgundy where Larry developed his passion for Pinot Noir, he turned a tiny amount of grapes from his low-yielding Te Muna Road vineyard into what is now one of New Zealand’s most revered wines, Kupe.

From the outstanding 2006 vintage Larry added a further three exceptional sites that he knew offered unique qualities that would shine through the resulting wines. These are Kiwa, Te Rehua and Pahi. Together, these four wines portray the essence of the Martinborough Terraces.

This exclusive range is made from some of the oldest vines in the Martinborough region and offers an authentic reflection of each vineyard’s attributes. This terroir is consistent from vintage to vintage and while it forms the solid foundation and style for each wine, the subtleties of the season add further complexity.  Larry then strives to develop the highly desirable hallmarks of ripe fruit, weight and texture which combine to ensure that each of these wines is an outstanding example of site-specific Martinborough Pinot Noir.

KUPE. Created from Escarpment Vineyard’s high density, close-planted vineyard on Te Muna Road, south-east of Martinborough and from a single clone on its own roots, this well-structured wine is more akin to the ‘old world’ style of Pinot. A highly perfumed wine with attractive floral characters, Kupe is at the forefront of Pinot Noir in New Zealand and will age gracefully for ten years or more.

KIWA is made from a blend of clones from vines over 27 years old, grown just to the north-east of Martinborough’s town centre on alluvial loam over alluvial gravels.  Slightly more ‘old world’, its hallmarks are to produce a savoury, complex and spicy wine that has become a favourite of the Escarpment wine-making team.

TE REHUA is produced from a vineyard to the north-east of the Martinborough township again from vines over 20 years old. A combination of deep, alluvial gravels and a blend of many clones grown in a very sheltered spot always rewards with a wine of unique site-derived, layered complexity combined with black cherry and plum fruit flavours. A classic example of New World Pinot Noir.

PAHI is grown on one of the oldest Pinot Noir vineyards in the district (planted in 1986) due north of the township. The combination of slightly heavier soils and the single 10/5 clone on its own roots gives a particular style of pure, soft, voluptuous, ripe fruit expression in an exciting New World Pinot Noir.

This range completes the Escarpment collection of Pinot Noir and allows Larry to present unique vintage expressions from each of these sites every year. This in turn gives enthusiasts the opportunity to explore the wines and the distinctive and natural characters of each one, providing interest and enlightenment into the complex world of Pinot Noir. These wines all have tremendous ageing ability and will develop gracefully for at least ten years.

If you would like to purchase any of these wines from the outstanding 2008 vintage, please click here for more information. Please be aware that only very small quantities were produced.

2008 Vintage

A classic for Martinborough. Ideal spring weather in 2007 gave us an idyllic opening to the season with no frost damage. The warm weather produced a successful even bud-burst and heralded a perfect December for flowering. Large crops were set which ultimately needed thinning (green harvest) during January. Some concern was felt around veraison when two weeks of welcome rain fell which luckily didn’t cause any damage. A warmer than average February and March meant picking started about one week early under perfectly dry conditions. The only negative for the whole season was rain during the middle of April but all quality crops of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were harvested by this time. The distinctive Escarpment style showing complexity, attractive texture and the perfect mix of black, red and green fruit flavours for which Pinot Noir is celebrated is a hallmark of the year.

The 2008 wines will age gracefully for many years and become well loved classics for the district.

As part of the lead up to Toast Martinborough we are going to give away a double ticket to one lucky person. We will be asking four wine questions; one Friday, one on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all at about midday. Every time you answer a question correctly you go into the draw. The people on our Twtvite http://twtvite.com/0mbb79 have already been entered and those who select ‘maybe’ on the Twtvite get two entries. Please join if you haven’t already.

We will also give a single ticket away to the best Re-Tweeter promoting the competition announcements and daily questions. So get involved have some fun and we will see you on the 15th at the red and white circus!  You can either direct message me the answer @LarryMcPinot or tell the world on twitter or respond on the blog.

The winners will be drawn between 4 and 5 on Wednesday – GOOD LUCK

This is a new blog so excuse its simplicity.  We will have it looking great shortly

Cheers for now

Larry