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Mt Beautiful Cheviot Hills 2009 Pinot Gris

The Cheviot Hills is a new wine growing region in North Canterbury and while I have covered previous releases from Mt Beautiful wines, this is the vintage of a Pinot Gris that they have produced. It is also the third white wine to be included in their range – the other two being Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.

Mt Beautiful has 4ha of young Pinot Gris vines which they used to make this wine. For those who know anything about the different clones of this variety, the vines are mostly of the Berrysmith clone, supported by a Giesenheim clone from Germany and three South African clones.

The Cheviot Hills experienced excellent weather over the 2009 growing season, missing the summer rainfall that plagued Marlborough. The season was marked by an abundance of warm, dry weather during which, the region’s typical Nor’wester even seldom came. Due to this weather, Mt Beautiful was able to start their harvest at the same time as Marlborough, 200km further north.

The fruit was hand harvested with a very high level of ripeness and intense flavour. Once at the winery, the fruit was whole bunch pressed with the free run and pressings kept separate. The juice underwent cold settling for 12 hours to retain some cloudiness, which helps to build texture in the wine. Thirty percent of the juice was fermented in third fill French oak barrels. These were not temperature controlled, unlike the rest of the juice which was cool fermented. After ferment, the wine was aged on yeast lees for six months prior to blending and bottling.

I found the Mt Beautiful 2009 Pinot Gris to have aromas of pear and spice. I also found the palate of this full bodied, off-dry wine to have flavours of pear and spice complimented by hints of almond and notes of plum. It has a creamy mouth feel and a smooth, lingering finish.

I would recommend trying this Pinot Gris with poached salmon or trout. If you want something you don’t have to catch, you could also try it with schnitzel or a creamy pasta. It is a wine that should cellar well and develop further for up to three years

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (31/5/2010)

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