Quartz Reef Bendigo Single Ferment Pinot Noir 2021

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100.  A perfectly enticing bouquet with complexities of place and time, berry fruits, savoury hillside spice aromas and a deeply earthy mineral quality. Aromas and flavours of cherry and desiccated plum, dried raspberry and bracken. The core of this wine is the texture and completeness with long chain tannins and acid line that frame the other flavours perfectly. Such a lovely wine with a lengthy finish. Best from 2027 through 2037.

Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 95/100. The 2021 Bendigo Estate Single Ferment Pinot Noir is tighter and more savory, with pink peppercorns and star anise, blood orange and raspberry leaf tea. In the mouth, it is saturated with flavor, shaped by fine, chalky, tannins. There’s a lovely spool of length through the finish. Wonderful wine. Unfined and unfiltered.

Tasting note

This Pinot Noir opens with a fascinatingly complex bouquet that harmonizes both fruit and spice. The nose is dominated by ripe berry fruits and warm star anise, underpinned by subtle, earthy-mineral nuances. The palate reveals a depth of flavour where ripe cherry and dark notes of desiccated plum meet the delicate sweetness of dried raspberry. The wine’s outstanding texture is defined by chalky, ultra-fine tannins that support the body without being harsh. Perfectly balanced, this wine culminates in an impressively long and persistent finish. A Pinot Noir of great finesse and structure.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: Red wine

Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir

Food match: Serve with seared duck breast with almond cream and pickled cherries.

Wine region: Bendigo, Central Otago, New Zealand. 

Vineyard: The pioneer Bendigo Estate vineyard. With a vine density of 5,000 - 8,000 plants per hectare on grafted pinot noir clones, planted in 1998. The soils on the beautiful north facing slope are Waenga fine sandy loam and Letts steepland with an elevation from 217 – 264 metres, on 44.55° south.

Growing season 2021: With warm Spring conditions, growth was steady throughout the vineyard. Flowering began in mid-November and following a cold front in late November, frost risk remained low for the remainder of the season. The new year brought both rain and snow leaving a dusting on the Pisa Ranges, the lowest Quartz Reef has ever seen this far into the season. Warm dry weather followed right through into harvest which enabled the fruit to ripen to perfection. Veraison took place at the end of January and the winery began their harvest in March. Optimal conditions early in the season have resulted in an above average yield and a long dry season has provided them with exceptional quality.

Winemaking: This single ferment named “Velvet” has been selected as it best expresses the Bendigo Estate vineyard and the growing season. Hand harvested on the 24th of March from block 6. Cold soaked for 5 days before indigenous yeast fermentation kicked in. Gentle hand plunging throughout ferment, followed by post fermentation maceration of 6 days to ensure optimum fruit and tannin balance. Total time on skin: 22 days. Drained directly into selected French oak barriques (16 % new, 66 % 1 year old, 18 % 2 years old) where the wine aged for 13 months during which natural malolactic fermentation occurred.

What is a "single ferment"? When Quartz Reef talks about a "single ferment," they are referring to a highly selective and dedicated winemaking process for a very special portion of their harvest, designed to yield a wine with exceptional purity, character, and a true sense of place.

Cellaring potential: 2035+. The wine will benefit from cellaring.

Alcohol: 14.5% vol

Total Acidity: 5.5 g/l

Residual sugar: <1 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Produced and bottled by: Quartz Reef, PO Box 63, Cromwell, Central Otago 9342, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany

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