2012 Picnic Riesling

About the wine

PICNIC

Featuring the Proprietor’s Grandfather, Sydney Neill – Wine Merchant, on the label, Picnic Riesling is our perennial favourite and a wonderful introduction to the pleasure of Central Otago Riesling.  We think it is just as much a dinner wine as a luncheon – equally enjoyable at home outdoors as at the Captain’s Table.

Tasting Notes

Vintage Comment:

A generally warmer year than 2011, the fruit displayed ripe, stone fruit flavours, gentle acidities and well behaved pH levels. Ideal December flowering conditions resulted in well formed medium sized bunches at desired low cropping rates. A relatively long cool autumn ripening period produced low sugar levels and wine based on mineral complexity with subtle fruit characteristics.

Winemaker’s Notes:

White flower, spice, lime and citrus fruit aromatics followed by a soft richly textured mouthfeel which also shows elegance, minerality and tension. A lively and varietal wine that drinks well immediately but has the potential to age elegantly over the next 3-5 years.

Vineyard Management:

Own roots – cane cuttings from Felton Road. Single cane, one bunch per shoot, 5500 vines per hectare.  Shoot and lateral thinned, and leaf plucked. Hand harvested on the 20^th of April 2012.

Soil: Gravelly loamy silt

pH: 3.10                       

TA: 7.8 g/L                   

Alc: 11.5 %                   

R/S: Off dry, 10g/L

Proprietor: Sam Neill                

Viticulturist: Mike Wing                

Winemaker: Dean Shaw        

Total Production:         438 cases                                 

Cellaring:                     2013 – 2018

Bottled:                        October  2012