Vibrant and full of life, our Maija Pinot Noir is a true expression of this poetic variety, and named after Tantalus proprietor Eric Savics’ daughter.
Pouring a bright garnet colour in the glass, the nose is lush with a lifted florality, ripe red cherries, dried strawberry, and a subtle forest floor character. Secondary notes of dried thyme and graphite are just starting to develop. The palate evolves in a slightly richer expression than the nose suggests and the herbaceous notes from the aromatic profile come through alongside darker fruited notes of bramble berries and blackberries. There is great length on the finish and it showcases a wonderful grip and release of subtle and juicy tannins.
WINEMAKER'S NOTES
We’re delighted for the triumphant return of this bright and approachable Pinot Noir to the portfolio this year. Fruit for this wine was handpicked from our youngest estate blocks of Dijon plantings, complemented by fruit sourced from a neighbouring vineyard in South East Kelowna of impeccable quality.
Vinified in small lots using 100% wild fermentation and 15-20% whole bunch inclusion. The small batches were then placed into a selection of new (10%) and seasoned French oak barriques for 11 months, where they underwent natural malolactic fermentation in Spring 2023 before being blended, just prior to bottling in fall of 2023.
ACCOLADES
91 points, Treve Ring, Gismondi On Wine
"The last time we saw Maija Pinot Noir was the 2019 vintage, so it's lovely to have it back in the portfolio... Darkly shaded, this perfumed, plumped wine charms with fragrant plum, black cherry, and savoury spices, with a silken body gripped with long assam tea tannins to a spiced finish."
90 points - Anthony Gismondi, Gismondi On Wine
"This wine has an amazing, upbeat, clean, juicy pinot character, aided and abetted by world class textures. Rich, spicy cherry with subtle barrel toast lead to more crushed raspberries on the mid-palate, with an earthy, sweet, soft, round, persistent finish, dusted with minerality... A benchmark style for young New World pinot."
TECHNICAL INFO
100% Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 13.3%
Residual Sweetness: .29 g/L
pH: 3.7
Total Acidity: 5.4 g/L
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VINTAGE NOTES
2022 was a challenging season, but it produced some exceptional quality grapes and resulting wines. The winter of 21/22 was harsh, with many vines exhibiting primary bud damage following a cold snap of -26.5 around Christmas. Above average rainfall in May charged the soil with water and gave the vines everything they needed to hit the ground running after a long winter and late bud break. The rain continued into June meaning no irrigation was needed for the vines till much later than average and allowed the cover crop to flourish.
Summer was mild though some hot spells in late July and early August helped push the season along. September and October were perfect for developing flavours in the grapes while not having too much sugar produced. This resulted in balanced wines with moderate alcohol. A cold snap in early November just after all the sparkling and still wines had been harvested meant that we were able to produce our first icewine since 2017.
