Spy Valley Envoy Johnson Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017

Spy Valley Envoy Johnson Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017Medium sweet Complex oak Poached pear Exotic spice "Moderately sweet but beautifully balanced pinot gris with delicious honey, poached pear, apricot and mango flavours. A luscious wine without any suggestion of being cloying. Delicious now but could become even more interesting with a little bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Aug 2018 "Offering gorgeous richness, the wine shows baked peach, pear, toasted spice, honey and potpourri

• Medium-sweet
• Complex oak
• Poached pear
• Exotic spice

"Moderately sweet but beautifully balanced pinot gris with delicious honey, poached pear, apricot and mango flavours. A luscious wine without any suggestion of being cloying. Delicious now but could become even more interesting with a little bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Aug 2018

"Offering gorgeous richness, the wine shows baked peach, pear, toasted spice, honey and potpourri characters on the nose, leading to a concentrated palate that is mouthfilling and immensely satisfying. It is lush and comforting with subtle sweetness and perfectly balanced acidity. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jul 2019

Preserved pear, mango and nougat. Ripe citrus is normally a signature of this block, and present at a more subtle level in 2017. The balance is sweet with a long clean finish. Structurally light, the high concentration of ripe fruit flavours and residual sugar is offset with a degree of oak aging complexity and the exotic spice flavours from a late harvest date. The Envoy Pinot Gris manages to show bright attractive fruit at release, and combine that with the ability to gain complex nutty characters with further ageing. Behind the soft sweet side is a structure that holds the ability age in the bottle with grace past 2025.

Johnson Vineyard, Waihopai Valley “ C BLOCK “ - alluvial stony silt loam, very well drained.

The 2017 growing season was kind with moderate well-spaced rainfall and good growing conditions. The restricted crop off our Envoy block enjoyed an extended hang time, and picked up a small percentage of noble rot after late season rain. Further ripening resulted in shriveled berries with concentrated juice.

Handpicked after waiting for a long ripening period on the vine. The grapes were whole bunched pressed and fermented over 10 months in old oak.