2022 Charteris Central Otago Pinot Noir

With lockdowns fading into history, we were back on the plane to Central Otago on a more regular basis from March 22 onward, just in time for harvest. The growing season was generally kind with mild temperatures and rainfall spread throughout the calendar. There were a couple of cold nights in November with light frost but nothing to get too nervous about. December and January were warm with flowering and fruit set obliging to bring us back to better potential yields than 2020 and 2021. February cooled off a little before March delivered stellar growing conditions setting up a very good harvest, with ample yields and excellent natural grape chemistry. A couple of rain days through April took the dry March stress off the vineyards and ensured a well spaced harvest with a great spread of ripening dates across the Central Otago sub regions. In all a very seamless and potentially classic harvest.

As our search continues for new terrior amongst nooks and crannies of the Central Otago landscape we only further build our knowledge base of the highlights and challenges this place gives us. The stable nature of the 21/22 growing season and exceptional harvest conditions ensured the trusty Abel Clone is back at the forefront of our Central Otago blended Pinot Noir. Abel ripens last of the Pinot clones and most often gives us the bass note platform off which we like to build this wine. Generous depth of fruit accompanied by plush but textured tannin. This is offset by lift and perfume from the 667 and UCD 5 clones and berry fruit of 777. Whole Bunch inclusion at 25% adds structure and spice with 15% new French oak sitting subtly as support. 60% of this blend comes from the Hawkesbury Vineyard near Wanaka which consistently provides elegance. – PJ Charteris