Rockburn needs little introduction, the sheer quality and consistency winemaker Malcolm Rees Francis achieves the winery's signature. In producing their estate wine every year, they fill literally hundreds of oak barrels with Pinot Noir. As each is nursed by Malcolm on its journey through the cellars, they are regularly tasted. While one purpose of this is to monitor the evolution of the wine, the other is Malcolm’s quest to find the individual barrels that most eloquently speak of the vintage and the site. Those barrels are set aside as they are identified, destined for the barrel range. The name says it all: Eight Barrels, Eleven Barrels – you get the drift. This year’s barrel release is particularly unique in that there is not one on offer, but two. For the first time, there is a release that consists exclusively of Pinot Noir from Gibbston, and one made exclusively from the fruit of Parkburn.
The fruit profile is all about power, a generous spirit and depth of flavour.
A single vineyard wine from Parkburn.
This is a bold, structured, brooding wine, the opposite of the Eight Barrels. 100% clone 777, this spent 14 months in French oak with only 18% of that new, letting the powerful Parkburn fruit sing through, the dominance of cherry fruits in the wine a happy reflection of this area's affinity for cherry trees.
Sensational wine, the Eight Barrels shows of its elegance and finesse.
The fruit is off a single vineyard in Gibbston, a sub-region that is cooler in nature and doesn't ripen well every year. When it does, Gibbston can generate some of Central Otago's finest Pinot Noir expressions.
There is a purity and textural seamlessness to the palate, with a fresh acidity that is key to this area’s elegance and finesse. Minimal handling, with 14 months in 75% new French oak.