Attractive pale gold in the glass, the nose is swimming with lush melon, orange and pear aromas, with light touches of spice. Tropical fruit with light citrus acidity drives the palate, which has great length. A dash of Arneis (or 'little rascal' as it's known to the Piedmontese) adds crispness to the finish.
We love Pinot Grigio and it's ability to match nicely with such a wide range of cuisine. This is particularly enjoyable with seafood and salad dishes!
From the Winery
The fruit for this wine was sourced from our imaginatively named ‘Block C’ on our Billi’s vineyard high in the Strathbogie Ranges. The fruit for this wine was harvested on two separate dates in the last two weeks of February 2015. This was a conscientious decision to allow us to capture fruit with different qualities. Fruit picked on 20 February had a fresher acid profile, whereas the fruit we picked on 27 February had more intense flavour. We captured the best of both worlds and combining their different personalities helps us achieve complexity, intensity and balance in this wine.
All the fruit for this wine was harvested during the cool of night to ensure that fruit temperature was low to preserve primary fruit flavours. The majority of this wine (90 per cent) was fermented at around 14˚C in stainless steel tanks to preserve primary fruit flavours. The smaller component (10 per cent) was barrel fermented in two year old French puncheons (500 litres) to add a little texture and complexity.
We used a yeast strain called QA-23 because of its ability to ferment well at low temperatures and promote the development of enhanced fruit perfumes in varieties such as Pinot Grigio. This Pinot Grigio has been blended with a small component of Arneis (7 per cent) that was matured for a month in two-year-old French oak to add a cheeky twist of intrigue and complexity.
