Corofin Settlement Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022

Accolades:
96/100 – Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak (2021 vintage)
95/100 – Stephen Wong MW (2021 vintage)
95/100 – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front (2021 vintage)

Tasting Note: Red, earthy and warm. Wonderful purity but with savoury substance behind it, extending something ethereal as only Settlement does. Settlement Vineyard is planted on the slopes of the Omaka Valley in Marlborough. Owned by Dog Point and managed with immense intelligence and insight by viticulturist Nigel Sowman. The East Slope lies in a nor-nor-east orientation and is planted at a density of 4,000 vines per hectare on clay-rich soils.

Winemaking Notes: Hand-harvested 19th March 2022 into 1/2 ton bins. Yield: 40 hL/ha. Completely (100%) destemmed to two, one-tonne open-tops. Fifteen percent of fruit in bottom of tanks foot crushed, with remainder as whole berries on top. During ferment, the fermenting juice was poured back over the cap once a day to maintain freshness and to facilitate gentle extraction. Post-fermentation, the young wine was pressed after 19 days on skins, then settled and transferred to seasoned (second and third-year) French oak barrels. The wine remained in barrel for 14 months on original lees, undergoing a natural malolactic ferment during this period. Late Apr. 2023 the wine was moved to tank, sulphured and remained in tank for a further eight months prior to being racked and hand bottled in Janurary 2024. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. A small natural deposit may occur. Sealed with cork.

Certification: Organic

Alcohol: 13.0%

Variety: Pinot Noir

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand