Rows 76 – 89 Pinot Noir 2018 PINOT NOIR
A confirmed Domaine Thomson Team favourite, this exclusive new release Pinot Noir from Central Otago, is a single 10/5 clone pinot noir. It is mouth-watering, a beautifully silky wine with an elegant brightly textured palate showing great poise, balance and finesse.
Our exclusive and rare ‘Clonal Selection’ “Rows Series” Pinot Noir wines are only produced in exceptional years with the only previous vintages produced were in 2014 and 2017 from the Rows 1-37. With very limited production and stringent vintage requirements for this wine to be produced, this may well be the only Rows 76-89 produced for many years, if at all. It dosn’t get more exclusive than that – be sure to secure yours today. Buy Here.
Total Production: 202 cases, 10 Magnums and 5 Jeroboams. For Large Format Sales, please email Claudio on claudio@domainethomsonwines.com
A message from David and PM:
“It was huge fun to drink our Rows 1-37 (2017) and Rows 76-89 (2018) – in a side by side taste off. The expert tasting panel – Mum, Dad and son #2. With a roast chicken cooked in butter and a bunch of herbs ?.
We loved both wines and were totally absorbed by the vintage and clonal differences. No winner for us either way. Power and austerity versus red fruits and a beautiful lightness. Our Rows 76-89 is the ultimately elegant red fruit pinot. It’s drinking beautifully right now despite being the younger of the two wines. So few of these wines!?. Doctor’s advice – try both! (Hang on – I’m a lawyer…)”
Avaiable exclusively here at our Cellar Door in Central Otago, via our online Wine Shop and at Kerry Wines in Hong Kong.
Behind the bottle
Tasting Notes: Lovely aromatics of dark blackcurrant, black doris plum, dried herbs, spices and dried cherries. A lighter beautiful frame showing excellent concentration and complexity. A silky wine with an elegant brightly textured palate showing great poise, balance and finesse. This very special wine will age extremely well – it will reward patience in the cellar.
Vintage: 2018 was our warmest vintage on record, with the harvest starting 3 weeks earlier than usual. With the high degree of ripeness, the 10/5 clone performed extremely well and we decided to bottle it separately. It is extremely rare for the 10/5 clone to be made and bottled without the support of other earlier ripening clones. Thus, this is a unique opportunity to taste organic wine made 100% from clone 10/5. Our “Rows Series” Pinot Noir wines are only produced in exceptional years and the only previous vintages produced were in 2014 and 2017 from the Rows 1-37.
Winemaking Notes: Picked on the 14th of March, the single clone (10/5) Domaine-Thomson Rows 76-89 Pinot Noir was hand harvested and fermented using indigenous (natural) yeasts, with around 50% whole bunch fermented and the remainder destemmed but not crushed. Rested on lees for 10 months in French oak barrels, 33% new. No fining and medium filtration for clarity and stability.
Pinot Noir Spotlight via Riversun Nursery, by Nick Hoskins.
10/5 Clone: New Zealand’s importations of Pinot Noir clones began in the early 1960s, when government viticulturist Frank Berrysmith put Clone AM10/5 through quarantine. Selected by the Wädenswil Research Station in Switzerland, “Ten Bar Five” is responsible for most of the initial plantings of Pinot Noir in Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. In the field: Both the upright and semi-prostrate 10/5 are medium to high vigour, with medium to large bunches. Yields can be irregular.
The upright clone is easy to manage: it requires only two sets of foliage wires and fewer wire lifts than the semi-prostrate strain or other clones of Pinot Noir. In the winery: Provided yields are controlled and canopy management is maintained, 10/5 can produce very good wine – as demonstrated by the sheer number of award-winning wines from Martinborough and Canterbury produced solely from this clone. Many of the current New Zealand Pinot Noir wines retain a percentage of 10/5 in the blend. While not known for its fruit flavours, 10/5 can add structural backbone and fine tannins to a wine. It must ripen fully: otherwise, it can impart undesirable green, herbal characteristics.
