TORLESSE WAIPARA PINOT NOIR 2009
Released August 2010

The grapes come from five different Waipara Vineyards. All are hand harvested in excellent condition. Small vessel fermentation, hand plunging and traditional basket presssing all add to the complexity of the wine. After pressing the wine is matured in French barriques. This wine offers a classic Pinot character, the focus is on balance and elegance. We also use traditional methods, see below:

Vineyards

All vineyards are located in Canterbury, north of Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand. The latitude is 43 South.
The Briggs and Welham vineyards are in North Canterbury sited on gently undulating soils, free draining, alluvial silts and stones laid down from a river flood plain. The average age of vines varies from 7– 10 years and the clones are a mixture of 10/5 and Lincoln selections.
The Rayner and McKenzie vineyards are located in Waipara close to the winery. The soils are heavier clay loams and the terrain is gently undulating. The average age of vines varies from 6-12 years and the clones are mainly 10/5, clone 5 and 667.

Wine Making

Harvested in Mid-late April
Harvest brix ranged from 21-25 brix [% sugar]
Rayner, Mckenzie and Welham grapes were hand harvest while Briggs was machine harvest
Fermentation was in small vessels [1500L] 3 day cool soak, inoculated with yeast, fermentation varies from 4-6 days peaking at 32 C then allowed 7-10 days on skins.
Pressing was in traditional Basket Press
Cooperage was a mixture of French barrels ranging in age from new to 6+ years. Duration is approx 12 months
Malo lactic [ML] fermentation is natural starting in Spring and the wine is racked and has a SO2 addition once ML complete.
Bottling is through 1 micron filter

Bottle Details

Alcohol 13.5% by volume
Acid is 5.0 gm/L [as tartaric]
Volatile Acidity is 0.45 gm/L [as acetic]
Residual Sugar is < 1 gm/L

Winemaker’s Comments

Approximately 50 % of the grapes came from two Waipara Vineyards, Maggie and Kym Rayner’s Home Block and The McKenzie Weka Terraces Vineyard. The other 50% were from Briggs and Welham’s North Canterbury Vineyards some 40 km SW of Waipara.

All grapes were harvested in excellent condition at 21 – 24 Brix. Fermentation involved hand plunging to yield maximum colour and full flavour extraction and traditional basket pressing.

After pressing, and oak maturation the wine was bottled just prior to the new vintage.

This Pinot Noir has a combination of sweet berry fruit and plums with a spicy savoury character from maturation in medium toast barriques.

The different vineyards each impart their own distinctive character. The Waipara component gives body and extract, coming from heavier clay loam soils. The North Canterbury vineyards give lifted fruit and elegance to the palate, coming from lighter, free-draining soil.

This wine is drinking beautifully now, but will cellar well for another 3-5 years. Excellent with Lamb, Beef or Venison and other full-flavoured pasta dishes.

This wine has used the screw top closure to preserve fresh fruit flavours or allow the wine to age gracefully and reach its full potential with no bottle variation.

Vineyards

Waipara is a premium quality wine making region located in the South Island of New Zealand, 60 km north of Christchurch. Waipara is a specific region within the larger appellation of Canterbury.
All the grapes for this wine come from vineyards located in Waipara, The latitude is 43 South.
The Rayner, Waipara Fields and McKenzie vineyards are located in Waipara close to the winery. The soils are heavier clay loams and the terrain is gently undulating. The average age of vines varies from 6-12 years and the clones are mainly 10/5, clone 5 and 667.

Wine Making

Harvested in Mid-late April
Harvest brix ranged from 23-26 brix [% sugar]
Rayner and Mckenzie were hand harvest while some of Waipara Fields was machine harvest
Fermentation was in small vessels [1500L] 3 day cool soak, inoculated with yeast, fermentation varies from 4-6 days peaking at 32 C then allowed 7-10 days on skins.
Pressing was in traditional Basket Press
Cooperage was a mixture of French barrels ranging in age from new to 6+ years. Duration is approx 12 months
Malo lactic [ML] fermentation is natural starting in Spring and the wine is racked and has a SO2 addition once ML complete.
Bottling is through 1 micron filter
Blend size is approx 1500 cases

Bottle Details

Alcohol 13.5% by volume
Acid is 6.0 gm/L [as tartaric]
Volatile Acidity is 0.45 gm/L [as acetic]
Residual Sugar is < 1 gm/L

Winemaker’s Comments

The wine is made from a selection of batch processed fermentations that highlight the different vineyard sites within Waipara. All grapes were harvested in excellent condition at 23 – 26 Brix. Fermentation involved hand plunging to yield maximum colour and full flavour extraction and traditional basket pressing.

This Pinot Noir has a combination of sweet berry fruit and plums with a spicy savoury character from maturation in medium toast barriques.

The different vineyards each impart their own distinctive character. The Waipara Fields and Rayner component gives body and extract, coming from heavier clay loam soils. The McKenzie vineyards give lifted fruit and elegance to the palate, coming from lighter soil.

This wine is drinking beautifully now, but will cellar well for another 3-5 years. Excellent with Lamb, Beef or Venison and other full-flavoured pasta dishes.

This wine has used the screw top closure to preserve fresh fruit flavours or allow the wine to age gracefully and reach its full potential with no bottle variation.

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Torlesse Wines, Waipara New Zealand