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About the Curly Flat Western Pinot Noir 2020

As with our inaugural 2018 Western Pinot Noir, our 2020 has been sourced from our coolest viticultural sites.  Planted in 1997 & 1998 these blocks now form the fragrant peak of Curly Flat Pinot Noir.  Eastern facing and situated on a rising slope to the west, the upper areas receive the morning to midday sun but receive only dappled light come late afternoon, providing for slower ripening and greater retention of aromatics. While the majority of soils in this area are geologically young volcanic red soils, select parcels find themselves situated in soils eroded from an ancient seafloor dating back 430 million years.  We call this area ‘white dirt’ due to the noticeably lighter appearance.  Ultimately these wines present in varying shades but each share beautiful aromatics imbued with a powerful fruit drive that’s densely packed with fine talc-like tannins. We bottle a small portion from these blocks separately to showcase both its uniqueness and its importance to the Curly Flat Pinot Noir Estate blend.

Vintage 2020

After a cooler spring, the summer months delivered moderate to warm temperatures of an average of 28 degrees. Veraison occurred in January, past the heat peak of summer and slow ripening ensued without compromise to length or varietal detail. Outside of an above-average flourish in November, the rainfall of the season overall was low with the lead up to harvest being our driest on record with only 41mm received between December and April.  The combination of warm days, cool nights, and very low rainfall manifested in a more powerfully structured yet fragrant Pinot Noir that serves to showcase the quality of tannin that is grown in our vineyards.

From the winery

Our 2020 Western Pinot Noir consists of three parcels from our Western blocks.  20% comes from the ‘white dirt’, our most fragrant and ethereal parcel from the ancient soils found in our 1998 planting.  The remaining 80% comes from our 1997 planting, in the form of two parcels consisting separately of 114 and 115 clones found upon younger volcanic red soils.  All were indigenously fermented with a small percentage of whole bunches for further lift and enhanced structure to underpin a fine yet  deeply flowing palate of red and dark berried fruit. Spending around three weeks on skins these parcels were pressed to then spend 16 months in barrel.  The 2019 Western consists of 17% whole bunch and no new oak to ensure vineyard fragrance is unobscured along with no filtration upon bottling.