2019 Singlefile Small Batch Porongurup Pinot Noir
AVAILABLE TO LOGGED IN COLLECTOR AND APPRECIATOR WINE CLUB MEMBERS
VINEYARD & WINEMAKING
The 2019 season saw lower rainfall and a later ripening season than usual. While a challenging vintage for some varieties, 2019 ended up being a fantastic season for pinot noir for those that have been diligent in vineyard management and had the kind touch of Mother Nature.
Produced from fruit planted on a mature pinot noir vineyard in the Porongurup sub-region of the Great Southern, the fruit is a mix of three clones, being 777, 114 and 115. At harvest the fruit was handpicked and chilled overnight to prevent oxidation and to retain the vineyard’s natural flavours. Approximately 40% of the fruit was whole-bunch pressed into a small open fermenter. The fruit was hand plunged twice daily and pressed after seven days on the skins – roughly halfway through ferment, which was completed in a new French oak hogshead following regular batonage. It was aged on full yeast solids. This wine wasn’t fined or filtered (only natural settling) before bottling.
THE WINE
On the nose expect a blend of aromatics that include strawberries, cranberries and cherries with subtle smoky oak and dark chocolate characters. The palate displays a well-structured and complex Pinot Noir. It is a wine with good intensity where the red fruits, oak and dark chocolate characters are joined with nice herbaceous and savoury notes with subtle chalky tannins. It has a very long after taste. This wine is drinking well now but will reward with patience.
CRITIC REVIEWS OF NOTE
95 points, Wine Showcase Magazine, December 2021
4 stars, Stuart Knox, The Real Review, March 2021