Premier Cuvée 2019

Bruised apple and citrus, great purity on the nose. Fine bubbles, persistent, pronounced baked bread, red apple and poached pear on the palate, with delicate buttery depth.

Sandy clay loam over chalk. Vineyard elevation between 96m - 142m. 2019 vintage overall was a cool and wet year. The summer was lacking in long spells of sunshine but broadly speaking was a warm and humid summer. High disease pressure. Resulting fruit was very clean. More Botrytis about than in previous years. This was sorted at harvest, dropping bunches and cutting out Botrytis where necessary. 2019 produced some excellent and very expressive Pinot fruit. Our 2019 has a higher proportion of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to Chardonnay in comparison to other years.

High disease pressure meant earlier leaf pulling. We always have a high and detailed focus to canopy management. Opening up the fruit zone and having an exposed canopy in a year like 2019 was essential to reduce disease pressure and to improve prospects of ripening.

Whole bunch. Full MLF. Mostly stainless steel. Small proportion barrel fermented. Premier Cuvée always aged for a minimum of 36 months, with and additional 6 months on cork prior to release.

Will continue to improve for the next 5-6 years. Will develop beyond this.