Andrew Blake — Marlborough, New Zealand
Tasting Notes
Lifted aromatics with notes of five spice and red fruits – raspberry and cherry. Vibrant and intense on the nose. A medium bodied palate with flavours of plum, ripe cherry and a touch of cedar on a tangy, focused , dry finish with a fine tannin structure. This wine exudes elegance and feminity.
Winemaking Notes
The Brothers 2009 Marlborough Pinot Noir was sourced from the Kaituna area on the North bank of the Wairau River. The 2009 vintage produced fruit in excellent condition – ripe and clean with superb flavour intensity. The hand harvested fruit was destemmed, partially crushed then held on skins chilled for 7 days for flavour extraction. The must was then warmed and a natural, wild ferment started before yeast added. Fermentation was completed over 14 days then the wine was left on skins for up to 4 days to harmonise the tannin structure. The wine was then pressed into 225 L and 300L French oak barrels ranging from new to 3rd use. A natural malo-lactic fermentation was completed in spring as the cellar warmed up. The barrel selection process eliminated all but the best nine barrels that make up this blend. We aimed to select barrels that showed fruit intensity and vibrancy while focusing on texture, elegance and finesse. The new oak component is 26%. The blend received a light egg fining and allowed to settle before bottling without filtration in October 2010. Approximatley 3,000 bottles were produced.
