Matahiwi Estate

Our Holly range is the best we produce. As our reserve range, named after the owners’ daughter, they are a stand out medal winners vintage to vintage.

This wine is harvested from the very best parcels of fruit on our Home Estate, typically from low yielding vines on the lowest vigor areas within the vineyard.

Bold purple, ruby-magenta on the rim.

The nose is a weave of dark-berry fruits, plums and cocoa, along with herb, whole cluster stem and baking spices. Medium-full bodied, the palate is structured on the whole cluster stems, with dense ripe red fruit and savoury, earthy tannins that balance the mid palate and draw out the length.

This attractive, soft Pinot Noir shows dark plum and cherry flavours with fragrant fresh hay and cedary oak characters. On the palate, the vibrant cherry flavours come through with a hint of spicy toasty oak and velvety tannins.

Winemaking:
In the winery the different batches of fruit are processed separately so that we can see the individual characters on their own. We then add further complexities by incorporating different techniques and yeast combinations. The grapes are cold soaked for between five to seven days and then fermented at about 28-32C. If the fruit is in very good condition still we allow up to 21 days post-ferment on skins before the grapes are pressed off and malolactic fermentation is completed in the tank. The wine is matured in French oak barrels (about 35 per cent are new) for 10 months. The barrels are then each individually tasted before the final blend is confirmed.

Technical Notes

The 2020 Holly South Series Pinot Noir ripples with elegance and finesse reflecting the warm growing season experienced throughout the Wairarapa region. Bold aromatic expressions of wild flower, red berries, spice and herb give way to a fresh palate with generous length and graceful oak.

Winemaking:
In the winery, the different batches of fruit were processed separately so that the individual characters could be retained. Further complexity was added by incorporating techniques such as plunging and pumping over to ensure optimum flavour extraction from the skins.

Prior to fermentation the grapes were left to cold soak for 3 days. Different yeast combinations were used, along with wild yeasts, to add even more depth of flavour. The different batches were then left on skins for 21 days before being pressed off into barrel.

This wine also incorporated some whole cluster fermentation, which has lifted the aromatic profile with floral and spice notes. Once in barrel, the wine was aged for 12 months in oak (23% new) before the final blend was put together.

Bruce by Matahiwi Estate Pinot Noir, are two very special barrels of out top pinot noir. Bruce was the grandfather of Holly, our reserve label namesake. He was a one of a kind person who loved his community, as well as bagpipes and tartan. We don’t make Bruce every year, only in very special years, to honour a very special man.

The nose has lifted aromas of roses, violets, blueberry, spice and smoke. The palate has concentrated flavours of dark cherry, plum, cedar and earth with full spicy tannins leading to a sustained finish. Excellent for sipping by the fire with a fat stogie, this wine is a great match for rich meat dishes like jugged hare, venison casserole or beef steak.

The fruit was harvested by clonal selection and for this wine we used 50% Abel clone for structure and spice, 31% clone 115 for fruit and mid palate richness, and 19% Clone 667 for aromatic lift and charm. The Abel fruit was 100% whole bunch fermented while the 667 and 115 were co fermented with 6% whole clusters. After maceration for up to 22 days on skins the young wines were run to barrel, 50% new French oak, where they underwent malolactic fermentation. The wines aged in barrel on full lees for a total of 10 months before being racked out and bottled with no fining.