Amisfield Breakneck Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

Amisfield Breakneck Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020French oak Ripe rapsberries Five spice Textural tannins "What a fabulous wine with a bouquet of crunchy red cherries and ripe raspberries, therea seam of savoury spice within layers of oak and a light wood smoke quality. Compex and youthful, varietal and engaging. Youthful, taut and palate squeezing as the wine touches the tongue, core fruit flavours and ripeness deliver contrast while tannins and acidity set the weight and texture foundations. Well

• French oak
• Ripe rapsberries
• Five spice
• Textural tannins

"What a fabulous wine with a bouquet of crunchy red cherries and ripe raspberries, there’a seam of savoury spice within layers of oak and a light wood smoke quality. Compex and youthful, varietal and engaging. Youthful, taut and palate squeezing as the wine touches the tongue, core fruit flavours and ripeness deliver contrast while tannins and acidity set the weight and texture foundations. Well made, in fact delicious, but definitely needs time to settle in and develop. Best drinking from late 2024 through 2034" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Dec 2022

"Fruit-forward pinot with cassis, cherry, plum, roasted chestnut, dried herb and five spice flavours. Intense wine that is easy to appreciate on release but will certainly benefit from a few years bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Dec 2022

A cooler year with lower yields brought about small concentrated berries with wonderul tannins, structure and a tight acid line. Darker fruits, perfume and spices are present through a combination of whole bunch and whole berry fermented fruit. The wine was aged in french oak barriques on lees for 15 months before blending to showcase the best of the vintage and estate for 2020.

Hand-harvested fruit was cold-soaked for up to five days before natural fermentation began. Gentle, selective timing of hand-plunging and pumpovers during fermentation helped to extract delicate skin and seed tannins. Approximately 20% whole-bunch clusters were included in the ferments. Maturation was 15 months in 27% new tight-grain French barriques.

Fruit is sourced from various parcels across the estate and a barrel selection is chosen by our winemakers as most representative of our site and of the vintage. This is the fifth iteration of a barrel selection from our vineyard and our second BioGro certified organic Pinot Noir release.

Central Otago experienced a growing season of extremes. Rain and strong wind through November and December impacted flowering, reducing yields. This was followed by a warm and mild January which helped develop healthy canopies. At harvest, nighttime temperatures plummeted, dramatically slowing the pace of ripening. This helped retain bright acidity, and allowed picking to extend from mid-March until mid-May. The small crops ensured great concentration of flavour.