Peregrine Winery Mohua Pinot Noir 2018, Central Otago, New Zealand

The Mohua range of wines is from Peregrine Winery, Central Otago. The ‘Mohua’ wines are named in honor of one of their rarest birds, now found only in some of the most remote parts of the South Islands pristine rainforests. The graphics of the Mohua label reflect this stunning bird, flying through the upper canopies of its tree habitat. The fruit for this wine is 100% Central Otago sourced from Bendigo (18%), Pisa (45%) and Gibbston (37%) sub-region. The fruit was carefully hand harvested from selected vineyards, de-stemmed without crushing into fermenters, and cold soaked prior to inoculation with selected yeasts. Fermentation temperature of 32 degrees C was attained to help with color, flavor and mouth feel. The resulting wine was gently pressed to age in a mix of older French oak barrels for 10 months, then 2-4 years in the cellar. The wine was lightly filtered prior to bottling. 2018 – Bright red berry & savory aromas, a lovely soft palate with raspberry and red currant, and a hint of thyme.