De Bortoli Reserve Release Pinot Noir 2008

Vintage:  2008
Producer:  De Bortoli
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Region: Yarra Valley (Dixons Creek)
Type: Red Wine

We had this at CJ's place @1ETL last Friday. Yes, it was one of those TGIF evenings.

At first glance, the colour was much darker than the normal Pinot Noir. I really like the bouquet though. It was very expressive with layers of fruits and spice. However, the taste was too acidic for my liking initially. We decided to let the wine breathe in a decanter while we nibbled on the cheese and nuts. When we returned to the wine after half an hour, the palate was completely different. It was now soft on entry, with fine tannin and fresh acidity. A very fine and tasty wine that you would expect from Yarra Valley's finest.

A truly deserved score of 93-points by James Halliday.

From the winemaker:

Bouquet
Aromas of red currant, cherry and raspberry with subtle spice and some forest floor.

Palate
Medium bodied in weight. Richly textured. The palate is long and fine with gentle, defining tannins.

Vintage Conditions
The 2007-2008 growing season saw our earliest budburst for some time. Timely rainfall received in early summer (December and January) gave the vineyard some relief from a dry winter and spring. Conditions for ripening of Pinot Noir were ideal with warm days and cool nights and fruit was picked in optimal conditions.

Winemaking
Fruit was hand harvested from our oldest Pinot Noir vineyard (planted in 1971). The fruit is grown without the use of synthetic fungicides, pesticides or herbicides. The grapes were then hand sorted at the winery before being destemmed and transferred by gravity to an open fermenter. Fermentation proceeded naturally without the addition of yeast. After 21 days maceration and fermentation, the wine was carefully pressed, settled overnight and then filled to barrel via gravity. It is allowed to mature for 10 months at 16˚C. The wine is then racked by gravity and filled to bottle without fining or filtration. Malolactic fermentation was allowed to proceed naturally and was completed after 4 months.