Greenhough Hope Pinot Blanc 2019

A few rows of own-rooted vines from the 1976 foundation plantings are the inspiration for this wine.   Fruit is harvested at low yields and  is whole bunch pressed and the juice briefly settled to remove the heaviest solids before racking to seasoned 500 litre French oak puncheons for wild fermentation. The wine is matured for 16-18 months with occasional stirring  during this period.

As the wine opens, aromas are strikingly perfumed with an exotic quality. Ripe fresh pears, baked apple, guava,  and star anise. There’s also a mealy richness from extended time on yeast lees. The palate begins with fleshy stone fruits, appealingly soft and sweet-edged and enhancing a rounded mouthfeel.  This progresses to more subdued fruit characters integrated with subtle nutty, spicy layers and flinty minerals related to extended time in barrel. There is an expansive vibrancy towards the end with liquorice/aniseed spice and gentle phenolic interest which draws the palate out. This is a powerful wine with an intriguing interplay between the soft opulence of ripe fruits and a pervasive mineral clarity and mantle of velvety phenolics.