2018 YARDSTICK PINOT NOIR 750 ML

If there is one thing we love more than anachronistic units of measurement, here at Oddbins, it's a good origin story. In 2009, through a conversation with a friend, winemaker Adam Mason realised far too many South African Pinots were overripe, over-extracted and over-oaked, he concluded something had to be done. Focusing on high altitude sights and picking earlier Adam has maintained a wonderful freshness and purity of fruit in his Pinot. The wine has expressive notes of bramble and red cherries harmonising perfectly with savoury, earthy, minerally notes. Truly divine and we'd say a couple of furlongs ahead of the rest.

After making the most important decision of choosing the correct site, Adam Mason postulates the next step to making excellent Pinot Noir is ensuring the grapes are harvested at the correct moment. Ripe enough to provide good Pinot character, but not too ripe to ensure good levels of natural acidity. A small amount of grapes are left as whole bunches and included in the fermentations. These typically impart vibrant fruit character, and a lovely chalky textural element. The native yeast fermentations are mostly pumped over rather than punched-down, ensuring as gentle as possible extraction of colour, flavour and phenolics from the skins. After approximately two weeks the wines are pressed off skins and go to tank for the completion of malolactic fermentation, where after they are sulphured and racked off malolactic lees into barrel. The wine gives aromas of brambles and black cherries that fill the nose, lifted by a subtle top-note of sandalwood spice. The savoury palate combines earthy, chalky flavours and sweet red fruits to create a very complex and intriguing whole, that endures well into a lasting and pleasant finish.