2015 Stonier Family Vineyard Pinot Noir

The 2015 vintage was a wonderful vintage for Pinot Noir, yielding an extremely low 1.06 tonnes/ha (or 430kg/acre). Picked on March 25 and fermented in a 1.5 tonne open fermenter, the small amount of wine was pressed to 3 barriques in total, with one new (33%) and two three years old (67%). After 9 months maturation (with one racking) the barrels were blended together and most of the wine bottled without filtration under the Stonier Family Vineyard label. A small portion was also blended in with Stonier’s long standing Reserve label Pinot Noir. The red fruits that were so prevalent as a young wine are remarkably still present in abundance, lifting out of the glass together with this vineyard’s typical delicate aromas of dried herbs. The fruit weight and level of freshness belie the wine’s age, whilst the integration of fruit and tannin has evolved to another level over the past few years in bottle. Of the three vintages on offer from this vineyard, this 2015 vintage feels like it is in a slightly younger phase of development, though it begs the question on how much better it can become. For those who like to live life now, they won’t be disappointed.