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| Pisa Range Estate Vineyard |
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 Pisa Range Estate Vineyard covers some thirty-three hectares of flat and terraced land at Pisa located 10km north of Cromwell in Central Otago, New Zealand. This area which sits on the 45th parallel bordered by Lake Dunstan on one side and the rugged Pisa Range on the other is proving to be a prime Pinot Noir growing site in the region.
Currently four hectares are planted in a variety of Pinot Noir clones – including some of the new Burgundy clones. Viticulture practices reflect the emphasis on striving for quality to ensure the very best fruit is brought into the winery. These include close vine spacing, careful clonal selection, maintaining low crop yields (around 5 tonne per hectare) and hand harvesting. There is a commitment to organic principles and Pisa Range Estate is an Accredited Member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand.
As the southern most winegrowing region in the world, Central Otago has more of a continental climate than any other wine region in New Zealand. The hot dry summers, cold winters and long cool autumns provide the ideal conditions for this notoriously fickle grape. The large diurnal temperature variation – the difference between daytime and night-time temperatures – contributes to flavour intensity and depth of colour. Each season is monitored closely together with the wine this site produces, in an effort to understand the “terroir”. Results so far are very encouraging.
Wines
The wine is named Black Poplar – indicating that grapes for this vintage have been sourced from the “Black Poplar Block” ® - a section of the vineyard that is dominated by two grand 80 year old Black Poplar trees.
The vineyard was established in 1995 and the Pisa Range Estate label was launched with the 2000 vintage. Our philosophy is to produce an “Estate” wine – a wine that truly reflects the site and “terrior”. As a result the winemaker is involved all the way along the ‘vine to wine’ chain. Decisions are made on canopy management and bunch thinning to ensure the best possible fruit is brought into the winery at harvest.
Traditional gentle handling of the fruit is practiced in the winery with some whole bunch pressing. Clones are barrelled separately in French oak barriques (one third new) for twelve months. The wine is kept in the bottle for up to twelve months prior to release. Vine age (some vines arenow 10years old) is beginning to have an impact on the wines which show good pinot definition, style and elegance.
Accolades
Since the first release in 2000 each vintage of Pisa Range Estate has received international recognition. The current vintage has been awarded the following:
2003 Pisa Range Estate “Black Poplar Block” Pinot Noir
GOLD MEDAL - 2004 Wine Style Asia Awards - Singapore
GOLD MEDAL - 2005 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, Australia
SILVER MEDAL - 2005 Southern Hemisphere Wine Competition, Chicago, USA
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