Waitiri Creek Pinot Noir 2008 CONFIRM 2008 VINTAGE

Waitiri Creek Pinot Noir 2008 - Buy
Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand
Central Otago is the source of full bodied, impenetrable Pinot Noir. The historical Shanagolden Block was settled in 1867 by James Leslie, a Scot who emigrated to New Zealand at the age of seventeen to prospect the Dunstan gold rush. It later came to the attention of the proprietor, that the free draining, northerly aspect of this Block was particularly suited to viticulture. Just 1½ kilometres west of Shanagolden, grown to the nearby Old Matagouri Block, a small parcel of vines is the source fruit for the breathtaking Waitiri Creek Pinot Noir.
The Waitiri vineyards are between 300 and 350 metres above sea level. With the growing degree days that the Gibbston area receives each year and the climatic challenges, the philosophy has always been to focus on delivering the best quality fruit, no matter what the weather. The hand picked grapes are destemmed but not crushed, treated to a five day cold soak for the extraction of colour and flavour prior to vinification. After seven days of fermentation the wine is left on skins for a another week until optimum tannin integration is achieved. Waitiri is then gently pressed off skins and drained to a mix of new and used 228 litre French oak barrels for malolactic and ten months maturation before assemblage and light filtration.
Bright garnet hue. The nose displays complex notes of stewed cherries, cedar and mushroom, a perfume of violets and rose petal. The fruit driven palate offers flavours of wild raspberry with hints of cinnamon, red cherries and succulent plum. On the finish comes a note of mushrooma and thyme. The silky tannins are woven seamlessly into a structure balanced by savoury French oak and alcohol.
Waitiri Creek
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Waitiri Creek
Waitiri Creek Wines is set upon a historical property and is significantly, one of the pioneering wineries in the district

Paula Ramage grew up in Alexandra and the Ward family farmed for many years on Malaghan’s Road, near Arrowtown. Central Otago is the homeland, the opportunity to develop a family vineyard there was too good to ignore. With equal amounts of enthusiasm and naivety, the Shanagolden Block was purchased in Gibbston and planted to Chardonnay in 1994. The historical site was originally settled in 1867 by James Leslie, a Scot who had emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 17. He and his partner, Thomas Kinross followed the Dunstan gold rush. Kinross established the Gibbston store and Post Office and James Leslie was the butcher and baker but also continued to prospect for gold. The free-draining, northerly aspect of this Block was particularly suited to viticulture.

Waitiri Creek

Shanagolden was originally named for the village in County Limerick, Ireland which Johanna Enright left to join her three brothers in New Zealand. The Enrights farmed beside James Leslie and in 1879, James and Johanna married. They raised nine children, the eldest of whom, James (Drummer) has been celebrated in the estate's Pinot Noir label.

A direct access to Waitiri Creek off the highway meant that plans for a cellar door had now found a home. Preparatory work included contouring the upper slope to eliminate any dips where frost could linger, removing the large rocks which were dotted around the block and piping the stock race that crossed the land. At that time, it was the only vineyard on that side of the road in Gibbston. In 1996, the Old Matagouri Block, 1.5km west of our original vines, was planted with Pinot Noir and a small parcel of Gewürztraminer.

Both blocks have their own microclimates and are among the earliest ripening in Gibbston. The soil profile is made up of 400 – 500mm of wind- blown glacial deposits on 4 – 5 metres of free draining alluvial schist. The vineyards are between 300 – 350 metres above sea level. With the growing degree days that Gibbston receives each year and the climatic challenges, the philosophy has always been to focus on delivering the best quality fruit, no matter what the weather.

Waitiri Creek

The first Waitiri Creek vintage was a 1998 Chardonnay. There were numerous evenings over countless glasses of wine discussing branding, colours, labels and bottle shape before finalising the image which has served well since then. Full production commenced in 1999 with all three varieties. One of the keys to increased demand was consistency of quality. Waitiri Creek has been recognised at domestic and international competitions every year since 1999, across the entire portfolio.

Care of the vines is the responsibility of the viticultural team which has been trialling diverse pruning techniques on the different sites according to vine vigour. The results are central to determining which fruit will be earmarked for the different estate labels. The land has several stunning poplars dating back to at least early last century, as well as old-fashioned daffodils which delight with their arrival every spring. Importantly, a cellar door had to be built which was in harmony with the historic nature of the site and the splendour of the local scenery. It was decided in 1996 that an old church would be the perfect building. So began a search which led all over the lower part of the South Island, culminating in a visit to Wangaloa, near Kaitangata in 1998. On first sight, the former Wangaloa Presbyterian Church would have sent less hardy souls running in the opposite direction. Negotiations with the local community ensued and eventually ownership of the church was secured.

In April 2000, the church was moved in one piece to the Shanagolden Block. Renovations commenced immediately to give it a new roof but the major work was carried out towards the end of 2001. There really is nothing like scraping off shellac by hand to bring one back to earth! The addition of this unique cellar door has created an ambience which has far exceeded expectations. It is a beautiful building to work in and the views back up through the vines to the snow-capped mountains are stunning.

Waitiri Creek