2013 Tongue In Groove "Clayvin Vineyard" Pinot Noir Marlborough

Fruit from the close-planted ‘Clayvin’ vineyard, given a cold soak and indigenous yeast fermented with 30% whole bunches, and a high portion of whole berries to 14.5% alc., the wine spending 21-25 days on skins and aged 16-17 months in 25% new French oak. Moderately dark, deep ruby-red colour, lighter on edge. The nose is full with ripe dark red berry and plum fruit aromas, unfolding to reveal a concentrated, complex core of black minerals, savoury whole cluster stalk notes, game and earth. Fragrant red florals emerge with time in the glass. Medium-full bodied, full, sweetly ripe and plush flavours of dark red berry fruit and plums fill the mouth. The fruit opens to show subtle black mineral, savoury herb and whole bunch stalky detail, along with red florals. Fine-grained tannin structure underlines the fruit, and integrated acidity adds to the energy. The rich and lush flavours carry through to a long finish of spiced plums, herbs and florals. This is a full, sweetly rich Pinot Noir that opens to show complex flavours on a finely structured palate. Match with lamb, beef and venison over the next 7-8+ years.

If you missed these phenomenal wines last year here is your chance to grab some of the highest quality (and coolest) wines coming from NZ. Tongue in Groove is a fairly new project from a group of old wine industry friends. The people involved have all had illustrious careers with other properties but are now pooling their collective knowledge and experience to craft these beautiful wines in exotic packages! The first key partner here is highly regarded viticulturalist Nick Gill. The single vineyard sites chosen for the TIG wines are farmed without the use of herbicides, fungicides or pesticides. Clayvin vineyard is certified BioGro organic. The vines are meticulously tended and fruit is grown and handpicked with a huge amount of care and attention. Next up, the winemaker behind the label is ex-Pegasus Bay winemaker Lynette Hudson. Lynette has just about as much experience as anyone crafting Waipara Pinot Noir and Riesling. Lynette’s winemaking style is quite non-interventionist utilizing wild yeasts for ferments, long gentle on skin macerations, natural Spring malo and no fining. For Riesling the juice is wild fermented with a good amount of solids and normally with the inclusion of a small amount of botrytis affected fruit to add a wonderful exotic note to the zesty, fresh flavor profile. Next comes Carolyn Reid who is responsible in large part for the striking label designs and over all aesthetics of TIG… whilst I don’t often advocate buying a wine just because it has a cool label…the label lovers amongst you are gonna love these! Finally we have the very important personality of Angela “the tongue” Clifford…Angela is the social media, marketing whiz that wraps up the whole package and adds an extra layer of polish. She effuses the true spirit of this wonderful region living on an organic, holistic farm, foraging for food and represents an integral pillar of the Waipara food and wine community. These are seriously great wines, grown, made and presented by seriously awesome people, check them out.