2021 Maipenrai Pinot Noir (SOLD OUT)

After a long wait, we are finally ready to release our next wine, the 2021 Maipenrai Pinot Noir. It is available until sold out, which will be very fast this year due to the tiny size of the Vintage. Unfortunately, there will not be enough wine for everyone this year, as we made less than 700 bottles. Therefore we have to limit everyone to just 3 bottles. The good news is that it is a very good vintage. $125 per case of 3 (includes shipping to NSW, ACT, VIC, Adelaide, or Brisbane - other destinations there is a small charge). 

Looking towards the future, unfortunately, the 2022 vintage is also very small and we'll need to restrict everyone to 3 bottles per person again when we release in 2024. 2023 has produced a better-sized, but still small production of 1800 bottles, and this means a bit more wine will be available in 2025. The two vintages are quite different, but both very good. The 2024 season is thus far looking promising, but we shall have to see how hard El Nino hits us this summer before being too confident. 

After the disastrous 2020 Vintage was destroyed by smoke taint and unprecedented heat, 2021 was instead wet and cool, driven by a full-on La Nina weather pattern. Budburst started around the first of October as per normal, and the vines developed well given the abundance of moisture. Regular rains, moderate temperatures, with a warm November gave us flowering towards the end of November. But it was clear the torrid 2019/2020 season had left its mark, with low numbers of flowers on an otherwise beautiful canopy. The mild weather and rains continued for the entirety of the year, with veraison achieved around February 10th. We were very diligent with our spray regime throughout the year, and had almost no disease, which was just as well, because as the grapes ripened, and just before we were planning to pick, a 3 day rain event dumped a 105mm of rain onto the vines. We held our nerve, and waited 2 weeks through perfect weather, and picked on April 5th. While we only picked 850kg of fruit, at least it was ripe and very very tasty.

We vinified with wild yeasts, using 15% whole bunches, and rotated the small amount of wine through a mixture of new and relatively young French Oak. We bottled the wine after 22 months in barrel. The wine is reflective of the cool vintage, and while relatively lightly coloured, it has a formidable mouth-filling savoury palate and a complex nose typical of our wines. The wine's silky tannins provide a structure that will ensure effortless ageing. It will be easy to drink young, but will reward at 5-10 years of cellaring. Sadly, only 692 Bottles made, so we need to limit everyone to just 3 bottles this year - and in advance, I apologise to everyone who misses out. I really am doing everything I can to get our vineyard to produce a bit more wine.