Dog Point Pinot Noir 2021

Dog Point Pinot Noir is grown in Marlborough, on the South Island of New Zealand, by Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, with the fruit farmed organically. Marlborough's Pinot vines sit on free draining clay and gravel soils in a cool maritime climate, where long sunshine hours and cold nights, a wide diurnal range, slow ripening and preserve the bright acidity, fine tannin and aromatic lift that mark good Pinot Noir. After fermentation the wine ages for 18 months in French oak barrels, the slow exchange of oxygen rounding the tannins and adding a subtle frame of spice and cedar without masking the fruit. The colour is bright ruby. The nose is floral and youthful, with rose over cherry and red berries, lifted by a savoury, earthy edge. The palate is fresh and silky, with fine, supple tannins, vivid acidity and a long, mineral finish. It is a serious, age worthy Pinot in a Burgundian mould. Serve a little cool at 15 to 16 degrees, and a short decant will open the perfume. It is a natural with duck, game birds and earthy dishes.