Oyster Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir 2011

The philosophy of Oyster Bay is to produce fine, distinctively regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours. With every vintage we are working with more established vines from small vineyard sites, each chosen for its aspect and uniform soils of moderate fertility, providing for extended ripening and enhanced fruit flavour profiles. With pinot noir the fruit is always the primary focus. Each vineyard block is harvested as a separate parcel and treated individually at each stage of the winemaking process. This enables us to influence and enhance the wine using traditional winemaking techniques, adding subtlety and complexity. We use a combination of barrel and tank fermentation and mature the wine in a mix of new and older French oak. Oyster Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir is elegant cool climate pinot noir at its best. Fragrant, soft and flavourful with aromas of ripe cherries and sweet fruit tannins that provide structure and length. - WineryAromatic cherry...

New Zealand's cool climate is proving to be superb for Pinot Noir, bringing depth of flavor and complexity that's hard to achieve in warmer regions. Oyster bay plants Pinot Noir in cool vineyards in Marlborough at the north end of the south island in gravel and clay soils that retain moisture. The grapes ripen slowly bringing natural balance and elegance. Oak aging is used judiciously with select barrels from the Voges and Allier forests. Medium toast and 25% new, the wine spends a total of 11 months in barrel taking on nuance and complexity without gaining heavy oak tannins. This 2010 shows the richness and elegance that this multi-step winemaking process endows; full flavored black cherry, strawberry and rhubarb along with delicate toasty vanilla, clove and smoke. A superb value for lush Pinot Noir. On Sale!

Oyster Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir is a fine example of elegant cool climate pinot noir. Aromas of ripe cherries and sweet fruit tannins that provide structure and length. Fragrant, soft and redolant of ripe, red fruits and for pinot noir it s a bargain to boot.