Kelly Washington Pinot Noir 2019

Kelly Washington Wines is a boutique winery producing small-batch, single-vineyard wines that authentically reflect the terroir of New Zealand’s diverse wine regions.
Founded in 2016 by experienced winemakers Tamra Kelly-Washington and her husband Simon Washington. They seek out the most unique and diverse parcels of vines, and work with a fastidious bunch of growers who have a love for the land, and are unrelenting in their pursuit of nurturing exceptional fruit from distinguished sites. Old vines, high density planting, vineyards of altitude, organic and biodynamic farming – these are the attributes they seek from the growers they work with.

Working with such exceptional fruit, their aim is to is to showcase and explore sub regionality, but moreover make wines of which are elegant, honest, and truly reflect the land they're from.

The grapes were sourced from 17 year old vines (at the time of harvest) in the Monte Rosa Vineyard, situated at 350 meters above sea level in the Gibbston subregion of Central Otago. The grapes were hand-harvested, after which 80% were de-stemmed, while 20% remained as whole bunches, to introduce complexity. Fermentation commenced naturally in open-top neutral oak cuvées, utilising indigenous yeasts. Post-fermentation, the wine was aged for 10 months in a mixture of French oak barrels and puncheons (20% new oak), before filtering and bottling.