St. Helena "Bernice" Pinot Blanc

Notes - Sitting just north of the City of Christchurch in the rich tapestry of New Zealand's Canterbury Plains is St Helena Wine Estate. Founded in 1978 by the Mundy family, the vineyard takes maximum advantage of the regions long, warm summers and dry autumns. An ideal climate for producing some of the best premium grapes the Southern Hemisphere has to offer. The result is a stunning selection of wines produced from the winery's 20 hectare estate. In fact, St Helena is acknowledged as the pioneer in establishing premium Pinot Noir for New Zealand. Owners Robin and Bernice Mundy and award winning winemaker Alan McCorkindale are passionate in their dedication to producing exceptional fruit and wines from the vineyard and the continuing development of Canterbury as one of New Zealand's finest wine producing regions. The Pinot Blanc grapes from this wine were harvested after a very dry Autumn. Many of the grapes were affected with "Noble Rot" resulting in a very high degree of sweetness (27 Brix at harvest), the highest sugar levels achieved with Pinot Blanc since the inception of St. Helena Estate 22 years ago. This has produced a full-flavoured wine which whas been aged for six months on yeast lees with regular stirring adding complexity. The wine is straw-coloured, with fresh fruit aromas of pear and apple, and subtle flavours of white nectarine and nuts. The palate is full-bodied, mouth-filling and rich with lingering stone fruit flavours.
 
     

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