Montana RESERVE Pinot Noir Marlborough NZ

A very elegant wine with cherry and plum fruit flavours and a fine structure. (6 x 75 cl)

Golden in colour with a rich creamy bouquet, hints of stonefruit, hazel nuts and spicy oak vanilla aromas. Full and powerful on the palate with flavours of ripe peach and grapefruit. The dry, acid balanced finish is enhanced by subtle toasted peppery oak. Grapes are harvested when very ripe at 23-24.5 ºBrix in early to mid April. The juice is fermented in American and French oak barriques followed by maturation for about nine months while remaining on yeast lees. Partial malolactic fermentation softens the natural acidity and adds a lush creaminess. Lees stirring was implemented to broaden the textural interest of the wine. Grapes are selected from the Renwick and Brancott Estates where vines are carefully managed to for optimum fruit exposure and development which ensures low crop yields with concentration of fruit flavour. (6 x 75 cl)

Montana RESERVE Merlot Marlborough NZ from New Zealand, Marlborough by Montana Soft & Supple Reds (6 x 75 cl)

With aromas of ripe gooseberry and fresh herb combined with underlying mineral characters, this wine has concentration and purity of aroma and flavour. (12 x 75 cl)

Pale straw colour with green highlights. The aroma is dominated by green olive, lemongrass and capsicum with hints of nectarine. The rich fruit intensity shows sweet capsicum, gooseberry and rock melon flavour. The palate is long, with the fresh herbaceous notes complemented by the riper tropical fruit flavours. A well-balanced wine with fresh, crisp acidity associated with this style. Grapes are harvested from the Brancott and Squire Estates at 22.5-24 brix in late March to mid-April then crushed and left in contact with the skins overnight to maximise flavour extraction and provide strength and fullness of flavour. The free run juice was then drained and fermented slowly at cool temperatures to retain the very distinctive regional and varietal characters. The vine are carefully managed to control vine vigour and maximise fruit flavour concentration by use of leaf plucking an hand pruning to expose the fruit. (6 x 75 cl)

This is the first release of this hand-crafted wine which will be made only in the finest vintages, it is sourced from Montana's finest Marlborough vineyards, Booker Block Terraces and Fairhall Estate. This flagship Pinot Noir shows complexity and concentration of flavours with sweet fruit and silky tannins. The growing season started with fine, settled weather over the flowering and fruit set period. The summer was wetter than normal, but this was followed by an ideal, long, dry autumn. Cool nights over the autumn period promoted excellent varietal intensity, ripe flavours and balanced acidity levels. This wine uses only French barriques, all were fine grained and three year seasoned oak, sourced from a number of coopers of which 40% of the oak was new, the balance one and two-years old. For the first two months the barrels were lees stirred, which helped to develop the wine's structure. The wine then remained in oak for 12 months, prior to the components being racked out and blended. This Pinot Noir is a deep garnet red colour with aromas of dark berry fruit, savoury spice and hints of chocolate and coffee. The palate shows rich, dark plum and berry fruit coupled with integrated, complex savoury oak. There is great concentration of flavour, with silky tannins giving a velvety mouth feel. (6 x 75 cl)

Light straw in colour with a fresh, citrus nose; ripe, tropical fruits on the palate with a clean, crisp, lemon/lime finish. (12 x 75 cl)

This is a large winery which sets and maintains a high standard. Their Sauvignon is a textbook example of this variety (6 x 75 cl)

The powerful fruit flavours on the palate are supported by an assortment of attractive characters from the fermentation in barrels and subsequent lees contact. The wine is dry and has a balanced acidity. (6 x 75 cl)