2014 TWR Pinot Noir

TWR

New Zealand / Marlborough / TWR

All fruit for this wine was handpicked, hand-sorted, destemmed and then berry sorted as well to make sure. Gently transferred to small one-tonne open fermenters, hand-plunged up to four times daily. Some parcels had a small percentage of whole bunches included. Some were inoculated with selected yeasts, and others fermented with native yeast. The fruit had a 7-8 day cold soak, a 5-6 day ferment, and then post-ferment maceration for 7-8 days. Pressed off on taste and then filled to oak after 24 hours. In French oak (30% new) from various coopers for 11 months.
This Pinot shows fragrant notes of ripe strawberry and omega plum with hints of baking spice, mocha and some savoury undertones. The fleshy, silky tannins frame a palate with serious weight that flows from fruit purity into more savoury flavours. It has great fleshiness and depth and finishes with a lingering persistence of fruit, fine tannin and integrated oak.

May, 2016

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front

93 points

Struck me straight off as having a smell of Barbaresco (with oak), which is unusual, but nice for me. Red cherry and red berries, twigs and tobacco, spice and rosy perfume. Medium bodied, spicy and juicy, sprinkled with dried herb and its mouth-perfume, fine grained pumice stone tannin, crisp acidity and a crunchy finish of good length, red fruit and sap in the aftertaste. Absolutely charming and great to drink.

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About TWR

Te Whare Ra (TWR) is a small vineyard and winery located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick. The 11Ha vineyard was first planted in 1979 and since 2003 has been owned by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday. Yields are kept low, the vineyard is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and all the fruit is handpicked and hand-sorted.  The wines are made with minimal intervention in a small winery which has been specifically set up for small-batch winemaking.  The aromatic wines have carved out a reputation for TWR as a member of New Zealand’s elite, while the improbably good Syrah and Pinot Noir are opening people’s eyes to Marlborough’s potential for red wines of distinction.
Biodynamic producer, certified organic
http://naturalwine.org.nz/

About

Anna Flowerday hails from McLaren Vale and kicked off her career there amid a thoroughly talented pack of young winemakers in the mid-1990s. She worked for Hardys for seven years all up, culminating in an aromatically formative stint at Leasingham in Clare Valley. It was during her time at Hardys that she met and fell in love with Jason Flowerday, a third-generation viticulturalist from Marlborough. Eventually they struck out together and in 2003 bought Te Whare Ra, home to one of the oldest vineyards in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979. Together they manage the estate with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and have cemented this region's reputation not only as an impeccable source of aromatic whites but also as a force to be reckoned with for both Pinot Noir and Syrah.