Vintage Information:
Vintage: 2008
Region: Marlborough
Winemaker: Clive Jones
Total Acid: 5.5 g/L
pH: 3.52
Alc/Vol: 14.0 %
Nautilus Estate has had a focus on producing Premium
Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region for over 10
years. The majority of our fruit now comes from two
specialised Pinot Noir vineyards on the clay slopes on
the southern side of the Wairau Valley. Small parcels
are also grown on intensively managed sites in the
Awatere Valley and the Wairau Valley fl oor with each site
contributing a specifi c character to our regional blend.
Our dedicated Pinot Noir cellar incorporates principles
of minimal handling and gravity fl ow and allows us to
handle all our fruit with the utmost respect.
W I N E M A K I N G / V I T I C U L T U R E
The 2008 season was warm and dry with our Pinot Noir crops harvested
early, well before the arrival of late season rains. A good fruit set meant
larger than normal bunches but still good skin to juice ratios. This is
a carefully selected blend of hand harvested fruit from six premium
vineyard sites.
To make this wine, fruit from Pinot Noir clones 114, 115, 5, 667 and 777
was hand harvested and de-stemmed without crushing to allow a portion
of whole berries in the ferment. The wines were fermented in open top
fermenters after a 6-8 day ‘cold soak’.
Careful cap management, using our pneumatic punch down device,
has resulted in extraction on only the soft ripe tannins. After pressing
the wine was racked directly to a mixture of new and older French oak
Barriques, where it remained undisturbed until filtration and bottling in
March 2009.
The Nautilus Pinot Cellar:
Completed in 2000, Nautilus Pinot Noir is made in a cellar solely dedicated to Pinot. All the equipment used here is only for Pinot – all designed to handle the fruit as gently as possible and allow the natural intense flavours and aromas – the expression of the different vineyards – to come to the fore.
* 16 open-top fermenters each with a capacity of 8 tonnes.
* The tanks have both heating and cooling capacity, enabling us to cold soak prior to fermentation and warm or cool ferments as necessary.
* The crusher is mounted on a rail above the tanks and a 'Taylors' bin lifter is used to elevate the fruit and feed the crusher/destemmer. The fruit is destemmed directly into the tanks avoiding the use of a must pump. When one tank is filled the crusher/destemmer is moved along to the next.
* A three head pneumatic plunging device ('Big foot') has been constructed which gently plunges the cap during cold soak and fermentation, allowing us total management of the cap. Automated control not only enhances quality but has also turned a labour intensive, time consuming task into a simple controllable procedure.
* The central catwalk, which provides unrestricted access to the tanks, allows us to closely monitor the ferments and cap temperature.
* After fermentation, the wine is drained off and the skins are dropped into bins to be loaded into the press using the same bin lifter.
* The young wines are transferred to barrel after pressing by gravity and will typically remain undisturbed in barrel until blending and bottling.
Profile:
Clive Jones - Winemaker/Winery Manager
Clive JonesClive Jones joined Nautilus Estate as Winemaker in August 1998.
Clive is a graduate in wine science from Charles Sturt University and had spent the previous 6 years working for Selaks Wines in Auckland. Clive originally trained as an industrial chemist before being drawn to the wine industry as a passionate wine consumer.
With a background in the production of Marlborough wines, a move to the region and a pioneering producer such as Nautilus Estate provided the next step and a fantastic opportunity." Marlborough is really the heart of the New Zealand wine industry and what a great place to bring up a family."
Since joining Nautilus Estate, Clive has seen the development of the Nautilus Pinot Noir programme. A winemaking tour of Oregon was completed in 1999, with a focus on quality Pinot Noir production. In 2004 Clive worked the Burgundy vintage at Domaine Dujac. While Pinot Noir is providing an immediate stimulus, Clive is also passionate about Sauvignon Blanc. "It is great to see the distinctive Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc flavours as they develop on the vine. Then we see them further emerge through fermentation and we can release a world class product three months later. A wine that is truly made on the vine."
.Plus frais les tannins se durcisse,le fruité est moin charmeur,beaucoup moin soyeux en bouche,parait moin équilibré.Certe plus chaud l'alcool ressort un peu plus mais c'est très acceptable.Je vais revenir avec un compte rendu de ce troisième verre mais miamm.
