Loveblock Pinot Gris - Organic 2023

Pale with golden touches. Elegant aromas of rockmelon yield to layers of chamomile and citrus. In the mouth, beautiful prosciutto-wrapped melon, Nashi pear and fruit notes are underscored with lingering texture, mouthfeel and linear acidity. The palate is complex, finishing with hints of wet stone minerality.

Loveblock Marlborough Pinot Gris (Organic) Tasting Notes with Erica

The grapes come from our family-owned Loveblock Farm in Lower Dashwood, Marlborough. Relatively unique in Marlborough, these grapes were sourced entirely from our certified-organic estate vineyard, the Triangle. Here, the vineyard soils are alluvial silt over stone.

Organic management decreases the vigour of the vines, reducing berry size and hence overall yields. The grapes were harvested in late March.

In making dry Pinot Gris, we have to manage the vine to give physiological ripeness at low Brix, so that the wine is not overly alcoholic. Organic management does this for us, with the competition from the wild flowers and grasses forcing the vine to struggle. Once the grapes were deemed ripe the fruit was machine harvested and membrane pressed immediately (no preservatives were added in the field to reduce the grape phenolics). The juice was then floated and inoculated. This was followed by cool fermentation with an organic yeast, in order to optimise the aromatics, and the ferment was stopped when deemed in balance. A portion of this wine was fermented in a concrete egg and neutral old French oak barrels and underwent malolactic fermentation. Once finished, the wines were stabilised and bottled in October 2021.