Mt Difficulty

AWARDS

93pts, James Suckling Tasting Report 2024

Vibrant aromas of cherries, wild strawberries, dried herbs and wet bark. The medium-bodied palate has focused acidity and crunchy, finely tuned tannins. Finishes bright, fresh and spicy. Drink now. Screw cap.

Gold Medal, NZ International Wine Show 2024

ABOUT

“BLACKBERRY, RED CHERRY AND MACERATED STRAWBERRY. INVITING AND VIBRANT NOSE. THERE IS A TOUCH OF LICORICE AND FAINT SUGGESTION OF BAKING SPICE AND PAIN GRILLE FROM THE BALANCED OAK. RIPE AND FULL ON ENTRY, BERRY FLAVOURS ECHOING THE NOSE.” Greg Lane, Winemaker

CELLARING POTENTIAL

Roaring Meg Pinot Noir will improve for three to five years given optimal cellaring conditions.

VINTAGE 2023

Central Otago had a vastly different growing season to the rest of the country. A mild, wet winter led into warm and unusually still spring which meant strong shoot growth and very successful fruit set. Cromwell then experienced it’s hottest January on record with picking starting early in the middle of March. In April, a blast of cold weather and rain was a welcome handbrake on ripening, resulting in one of the longer vintages at Mt Difficulty and great flavour and tannin ripeness.

VINEYARD

The grapes for this wine come from our Cromwell basin vineyards managed by our dedicated viticultural team. The addition of fruit from our Bendigo vineyard has lent a powerful, darker edge to this vintage.

WINEMAKING CONSIDERATIONS

Grapes were both machine and hand harvested and destemming to enhance the natural fruit characters of Pinot Noir. Fermented was on average for 25 days, with temperatures peaking at 28-30°C. The wine was plunged once daily during pre-fermentation and twice during fermentation. Post-fermentation the wine was left to extract with no further punch downs. Once tannins were in balance, the wine was pressed, settled and put into French oak (15% new) where it resided on lees for 10 months. It underwent malolactic fermentation during early spring, was racked out of barrel in early-summer and filtered but not fined prior to bottling. [184]

vegan friendly