Black Estate Damsteep Waipara Pinot Noir 2020

Black Estate Damsteep Waipara Pinot Noir 2020French oak Blackcurrant & cherry Vanilla & sandalwood Chalky tannins "Pure, ripe, fresh and varietal with an enticing and complex bouquet, fruit and savoury led with scents of black currant and black cherry, dried herbs and dark roses. Theres also a core of minerality and with wood spice highlights. Taut, youthful, savoury and complex on the palate. An abundance of chalky tannins, red berry fruit flavours, wood spice and clay limestone flavours. A

• French oak
• Blackcurrant & cherry
• Vanilla & sandalwood
• Chalky tannins

"Pure, ripe, fresh and varietal with an enticing and complex bouquet, fruit and savoury led with scents of black currant and black cherry, dried herbs and dark roses. There’s also a core of minerality and with wood spice highlights. Taut, youthful, savoury and complex on the palate. An abundance of chalky tannins, red berry fruit flavours, wood spice and clay limestone flavours. A delicious wine with pinosity that will be ready to drink from 2024 through 2034. In the meantime serve with food" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Aug 2022

Deep Ruby hue. Fragrant aromas of wild raspberry, dark plum, sandalwood, vanilla and sea spray. Flavours of silken and bright wild forest fruits and graphite. Supple and elastic mid pallet tannins that are contained with bright and pure minerality. Typical white rock tension creates a long and vibrant finish. This is an un-fined and unfiltered wine with small amounts of sediment. Please allow the bottle to stand and settle before pouring. Decanting will allow maximum expression of aroma and purity of fruit to emerge. Drink now to 2029.

The Damsteep Vineyard is located in the north east of Waipara Valley at the foot of the Omihi Saddle in North Canterbury. This Pinot Noir is grown on a 5.5 hectare vineyard with 9 different parcels of various northeast, north, and north-west facing slopes, with an altitude between 140 to 180 meters above sea level. The vines here were planted in 2000 and grow on clay overlying fractured limestone and sandstone soils. Organic and biodynamic farming practices have been used since 2012. The Damsteep Vineyard has been fully certified organic with BioGro since March 2017.

Winter and early spring rainfalls and moderate temperatures meant vines grew evenly though out our vineyards from around the spring equinox in late September. Frost incidence was moderate keeping us watchful in October and November with the majority of our vineyards avoiding frost damage. Rapid vegetative growth kept our vineyard team busy with shoot thinning, cultivation, and organic spray rounds with short intervals. Weather at flowering was favourable for Pinot Noir. Warm dry conditions in January and February slowed vegetative growth and ripened fruit. Settled conditions in March allowed an early start to harvest where hand harvested fruit was ripe and clean with low disease pressure and optimal ripeness. Mid way through harvest we closed our restaurant and the entire Black Estate team was able to work together to ensure our harvest was completed successfully. Thanks to them we were able to harvest some of the highest quality fruit ever seen at Black Estate.