2022 Reserve Pinot Noir

Our Reserve Pinot Noir is made to honour our winemaking philosophy, our historic estate vineyard and the special relationship between Tantalus and Tahltan-Tlingit artist Dempsey Bob.

A deep ruby in colour, the aromatic profile is complex with top notes of pomegranate, violets and wet earth first emerging. Lifted raspberry, anise and cedar bring layers to the primary profile, with a subtle fenugreek component offering a savoury intrigue. The palate is deep and long with black currant, red plum and Bing cherry carrying through to cedar, and herbal and spice notes of rosemary and pepper. The core Clone 667 make-up of this reserve release is known to exhibit a nervy minerality and firm tannin profile - indicating this wine will age gracefully over the next 10 to 12 years.

WINEMAKER'S NOTES

Year-to-year, our reserve Pinot Noir has been based on a small mid-slope block of Dijon Clone 667. The 2022 release is no exception, as this piece of land once again showed exceptionally well. However there were many stand out lots in 2022 and we felt compelled to include a touch more “salt and pepper” to the overall reserve blend. Parcels of our Clone 115 from Block 2 and Clone 943 from Block 8 were included this vintage, with 41% whole bunch and 30% whole bunch inclusion, respectively. While the 667 was fermented with 50% whole bunches used.

Cap management in the cellar consisted of only one gentle foot treading per day to maintain finesse. Following primary fermentation, it was racked to barriques of which 40% were new for malolactic fermentation. After 15 months and a gentle racking, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered and spent another year in bottle before release.

150 cases made.

TECHNICAL INFO

100% Pinot Noir
Alcohol: 13.4%
Residual Sweetness: .18 g/L
pH: 3.78
Total Acidity: 5.86 g/L

  • VINTAGE NOTES

    The 2022 growing 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 relatively 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 beautifully balanced wines with moderate alcohol. A cold snap in early November just after all the sparkling and still