The Soloist takes centre stage bathed in a very becoming hue of pink and always sees the world through rosé-tinted glasses. She’s destined to be in the spotlight and surrounded by adoring fans.
2023 Vintage
“This refreshing off-dry Rosé flaunts vibrant raspberry aromas adding complexity with notes of watermelon, candy floss and anise with a generous palate and lingering finish.” Olly Masters (Winemaker)
Vintage Notes
The warm temperatures at the start of the season (without the usual buffeting spring winds), resulted in rapid growth on the vineyard, especially aided by moist ground from a wet winter. The warmth continued right through to the first signs of flowering at the end of November. A cool front in early December slowed flowering but early indications suggested a good fruit set with bunch size looking promising and our canopy was probably in the best condition it has ever been.
January was hot and dry with a few consecutive days over 30+C degrees. As we moved into February, conditions stayed warm with a couple of rain events helping to keep up soil moisture. Bird nets started to go on mid-month but were delayed a few times due to wind events – the only time we had wind issues during the season.
Warm and dry conditions continued into March, and we started hand-harvesting on the 28th March with Pinot Noir for Rosé and continued for the next month across varieties and blocks. This was a dream season in terms of fruit quality and vine health with yields also above the long-term average. Berry size was also even across all varieties aiding flavour consistency and varietal expression, and there was good colour development and tannin ripeness in the Pinot Noir. This season will be remembered as one of the best. Growing Degree Days (GDDs) were 1152.
Food Match
This style of Rosé is an ideal aperitif wine but also works well with antipasto, salads, light pasta dishes as well as raw or lightly cooked seafood. It matches a range of white meats and is the perfect partner for summer parties and BBQs.
Details
| Region | Central Otago, New Zealand | Vineyard | Estate-grown, single vineyard |
| Sub-region | Bendigo – Single Vineyard | Variety/ Clones | UCD6 (67%) Cl114 (33%) |
| Planting | 2005/07, Altitude: 210 – 245m | Harvested | 29 & 30 March 2023 |
| Harvest Analysis | Brix: 23.2 / pH: 3.6 / TA: 6.4 g/l | Bottled | 15 August 2023 (Stelvin closure) |
| Wine Analysis | Alc:13.5% / pH: 4.43 / TA: 5.9 g/l | Cellaring | 1-3+ years |
| Residual Sugar | 4.8 g/l | Style | Dry |
Winemaking
The Pinot Noir fruit was all destemmed and crushed into picking bins for soaking to extract colour and flavour from the skins. The juice was left in contact with the skins for an average of 24 hours. The fruit was then pressed and the juice cold-settled to clarify. The subsequent juice has the vibrant colour from the Pinot Noir skins, but not the tannins that would be extracted if the ferment was carried out on the skins like a red wine. The clear juice is fermented in stainless steel, at low temperatures (15ºC), to retain aromatics and provide a freshness to the wine, a small proportion (5%) was also fermented in older oak to add complexity. The resulting Rosé is dry in style, with plenty of varietal character and fruit purity.
