1999 MadFish Pinot Noir Tasting Notes

Despite a difficult Pinot vintage, the 1999 MadFish Pinot Noir shows the benefits of having access to a wide range of vineyards. Only sound, ripe fruit was selected and was de-stemmed and passed through the open rollers of the crusher to allow a high percentage of whole berries into the fermentation. This was conducted in small static fermenters with twice daily pump over of juice over the skin cap to aid in the extraction of colour and flavour from the skins. The wine was matured in French oak barriques for about 12 months. No fining was required and only coarse filtration performed.

The nose shows varietal ripe Pinot characters of strawberry jam and earthy mushroom notes with subtle French oak holding it all together. The palate initially shows ripe berry flavours, followed by more complex "gamey" flavours all supported by good quality oak and some fine tannin. It has the subtlety and complexity to allow the delicate fruit characters typical of the variety to show.

Over the next 5 to 8 years, the 1999 MadFish Pinot Noir has the acid and tannin structure to permit the development of secondary complexing characters.