Palliser Estate Pinot Gris, Martinborough

Description

Palliser Estate Pinot Gris is made from 100% Estate sourced Pinot Gris from the Martinborough wine-growing region at the very south of New Zealand’s North Island.

The first grapes were planted at Palliser Estate in 1984 with the first commercial wines released in 1989 and the first wine exports in 1991. Today, the estate comprises some 92 hectares (around 228 acres) of vineyards planted with mainly Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc along with some Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. The grapes are planted on the “Martinborough Terrace”, a small but very special area of land located at the southern end of the North Island. It is framed by the Ruamahanga and Huangarua Rivers which helped carve out the Terrace centuries ago.

Palliser Estate place a lot of importance (more than many) on good vineyard practices. They train their vines to achieve a low canopy density and well-exposed fruit. This combined with judicious leaf plucking produces the distinctive fruit flavours in the wine. When the grapes are judged to be at their optimum maturity they are harvested and processed to retain the inherent fruitiness of this varietal.

Palliser Estate Pinot Gris is made in an style similar to those of Alsace. The grapes are left on the vine to fully ripen and are harvested late to give food concentration of flavours and aromas. This is a 50/50 blend of Pinot Gris sourced from Palliser’s organically managed Om Santi vineyard and their East Base vines. There is a combination of machine harvested and handpicked fruit; the former for skin contact and aroma extraction and the latter for elegance. Cool fermented with some residual sugar, lees stirring adds weight, complexity and texture.

Vegan and vegetarian friendly.