William Lyne arrived in Van Diemen's Land on October of 1826. His descendants established Spring Vale in 1875 and have pursued farming ventures in this beautiful area of Tasmania's east coast ever since. Rodney and Lyn Lyne planted 6.6 hectares of vine at Spring Vale, principally Pinot Noir in 1986. Further plantings were made in the following years, more Pinot Noir and more Pinot Noir again, with a splash of Pinot Meunier for variety. Today, Spring Vale can lay claim to the most coveted editions of Van Diemen's Land Pinot Noir.
There are no corners cut in the vineyard management and winemaking at Spring Vale. The final cut of Pinot Noir is made up of approximately twenty individual components, all of which represent different clones, different vineyard blocks, different rows on various parts of the blocks, a choice of yeasts, varying fermentation temperatures and a number selections of oak. Grapes are destemmed into open pots for a few days of cold soak, inoculated with yeasts RC212 and treated to a regular plunge throughout the vinification to gently extract tannins. Upon completion to dryness, batches are pressed to a high proportion of new French oak barriques for nine months maturation. Alcohol 13.2%
Medium cherry colour. Aromatic nose of lavender and allspice, dried herbs and subtle toasty oak. Seamless, rich, dark cherry flavour on a sweet middle palate, a fine line running from front to back. Abundance of fine and even, powdery tannins before a long, balanced finish. An elegant style with deceptively easy to appreciate complexity.
