Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir Rosé 2011
Our Rosé displays a lovely red rose petal, whilst the aroma displays savoury red fruits of the forest. On the palate the wine begins with rich, soft red fruits through to a richly textured mid palate; fruit and acid combine nicely to provide a clean finish.
Cellaring Potential:
Mt Difficulty Pinot Rosé will improve for 2 - 4 years given optimal cellaring conditions.
Vintage 2011:
Proper care at all times in the vineyard and winery was the making of vintage 2011. Conditions were difficult but the quality of fruit was very good, provided the right decisions were made.
Spring was fantastically settled, which led to excellent flowering and fruit set. Usual spring conditions actually arrived late, and unsettled weather was the norm right through January and February! Despite this, it was also pretty warm; it was almost too perfect for canopy and bunch development leading to bigger than normal berries, and higher bunch weights as a result. Finally some semblance of normality arrived in March with conditions settling. These conditions continued through autumn, other than one wet spell which highlighted how tender and thin-skinned the berries were this season. In the winery it was a season where the fruit needed empathy, and the direction of the wine was dictated by the fruit.
Vineyards:
The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they are managed under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty viticultural team and must be sourced from vineyards situated in a very specific area - the South side of the Kawarau River at Bannockburn. Mt Difficulty Rosé is not labelled under the Estate label, having been born of an experiment in 2005 when a very small crop of Merlot tempted Assistant Winemaker Roger de Grauw into trying something new. In the vintages since then it has evolved into a very stylish Pinot Rosé but the label has stayed true to its humble beginnnings. Mt Difficulty Rosé is sourced from purpose grown Pinot Noir in our Target Gully Vineyard, which is comprised of Lochar and Bannockburn soils. Lochar soils are formed in older fans with weakly developed, thin and wavy clay pans which are deep enough to cause no impediment to roots or drainage. These are well-drained, high pH soils ideally suited to viticulture. They generally have a 30 cm depth of top soil over fine to moderately coarse gravels. Bannockburn soils are formed from sluicing operations during early gold mining activities. They are drought-prone due to the coarseness of the base material.
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