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Mount Dottrel Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007
 The
philosophy for Mount Dottrel’s Pinot Noir is to ensure the name
becomes synonymous with quality, and to produce a wine that is
honest, unpretentious, with character and with true kiwi charm. The
vineyard is situated in the Cromwell basin of Central Otago, an area
which has proven popular for growing fruit. The vines grow on
glacial schist, low fertility, alluvial soils and experience
climatic extremes, with cold winters but hot, dry summers and cool,
dry autumns.
Mount Dottrel is produced by Mitre Rocks Vineyard Ltd, and as with
the Mitre Rocks label, they choose to contract out the management of
their vineyard to the award winning viticulturists, Robin and James
Dicey of Grape Vision Ltd. The low density plantings of Pinot noir
clones were hand thinned and leaf plucked during the growing season.
The fruit was harvested at 25 Brix.
Once at the vineyard, the wine was crafted under the expert eye of
award winning winemaker Carol Bunn. It was fermented in small
open-top stainless-steel fermenters for approximately 21 to 28 days,
then matured for ten months in French oak barriques. Of those
barriques, approximately 30% were new and the rest were one to three
years old.
I found the Mount Dottrel Central Otago Pinot Noir of 2007 to have a
delicious bouquet of cherry, plum and chocolate with underlying
herbal tones. I also found this wine to be wonderfully elegant,
structured and with a silky palate. The flavours to me are
reminiscent of ripe cherry, boysenberry and spice with a long
lingering finish
This wine is one of a number of examples that prove that 2007 was a
great year for Pinot Noir in Central Otago, with this one in
particular winning some notable international awards. I would
personally be inclined to try this with something different like
venison or game and a mushroom risotto, but it will be equally at
home with lamb.
Reviewed by Stephen Clark (6/11/2009)
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