Peregrine Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Description

Peregrine Pinot Noir is a fantastic red wine made in the Central Otago wine-growing region of New Zealand’s South Island.

Peregrine Wines is owned and run by Lindsay McLachlan. The McLachlan family were one of the first to establish plantings in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. Their first vintage was produced in 1998. Fraser McLachlan joined the family business in 2012 after having worked through his university summers in Bendigo. Today he is the CEO and director. They were joined in 2010 by winemaker Nadine Cross. Between them, they have a philosophy of producing wine that is truly representative of Central Otago. They make excellent Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc but are primarily known as Pinot Noir Specialists. Their winery design is an architectural marvel, resembling a bird in flight.

Central Otago Vineyards

Peregrine Wines source their grapes from eleven vineyard sites from three major sub-regions of Central Otago: Gibbston, Lowburn and  Bendigo. They own three vineyard sites outright, there are 8 hectares of vineyards at their Bendigo Vineyard (lower and warmer), 5.2 hectares at their Logan Town vineyard and 27 hectares at Gibbston (higher altitude and cooler). These vineyard areas typically produce intensely flavoured wines of finesse and elegance with the predominantly schist soils adding mineral complexity.

Peregrine Pinot Noir Winemaking

Peregrine Pinot Noir is composed of 100% Pinot Noir fruit sourced 50% Bendigo, 42% Pisa, and 8% Gibbston sub-regions. Each contributes unique characteristics to the final blend. The winemaking approach has always been along traditional lines with minimal intervention to allow the unique fruit flavours of Central Otago to do the talking. The fruit is carefully hand-harvested and then fermented (30% with 10-30% whole bunch ferment, the remainder de-stemmed carefully) in open-top fermenters. The wine is aged for 10 months in French oak barrels (25% new) before being bottled.

Organic Production

All of their vineyards are farmed organically and are BioGro-certified. The estate has a herd of Wiltshire sheep which keep down the grass grown during spring and summer, then return after harvest to tidy up the vineyard floor before bud break. Of course, their manure also helps enrich the soils and feed the vines. There are also Orpington, White Suffolk, Coronation Suffolk, Dorking, Leghorn and Rhode Island Red chickens which take care of grass grubs in the vineyards.

Peregrine Pinot Noir is suitable for vegans and vegetarians.