2015 Levantine Hill Estate Pinot Noir

Vintage 2015

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Clone(s) Mv6 and D2V2

Harvest date: Eight distinct picking days between 13 February and 4 March 2015

Bottling date: 29 January 2016

Oak treatment: 100% French oak, predominantly 228-litre barriques, one300-litre hogshead and one 2280-litre foudre for nine months

Alcohol content: 13.5%

Residual sugar: <0.25g/litre

Preservatives: Sulphur dioxide (220)

Ageing potential: Eight or more years.

Winemaking: Hand-picked over eight individual days over a twenty-day period, sourced from our three Estate blocks of MV6 clone and single block of D2V5 clone. All fruit was

hand-sorted and destemmed to small open vats. Stalks were added back to some parcels for added complexity. A mix of natural fermentation and inoculated yeasts. Cuvaison length ranging from two to five weeks on skins. Hand-plunged or pumped-over a maximum of once per day.

Winemaker’s notes: Exhibiting a slow build of power on a detail-laden palate, this Pinot Noir is the result of an assemblage of fourteen individual small batches sourced from our Maroondah Highway vineyard. Its clonal mix is MV6 (88%) and D2V5 (12%). Leading aromas of black cherries, rhubarb, sage, wet earth, nutmeg and black chocolate with integrated cinnamon oak and a subtle stemmy note contributed by fermentation with stalks. The composed, elegant palate exhibits red fruit flavours of strawberry and cranberry carried by ingrained natural acidity, subtly spreading fruit weight, a line of integrated oak and sweeping low-resolution tannins. The wine subtly yet confidently pushes through the palate to an expansive lingering finish. This wine is suitable for vegans.