2020 Picnic Pinot Noir

About the wine

Featuring the Proprietor’s Grandfather, Sidney Neill – Wine Merchant, on the label, Picnic is our perennial favourite – the wine to enjoy everyday and a wonderful introduction to the pleasure of Central Otago Pinot Noir.  This fruit was sourced from Two Paddock’s own vineyards in Alexandra and Gibbston and Bannockburn. Picnic Pinot Noir is made in a diminutive style aimed to reflect the characters that Central Otago Pinot does so very well – black and red cherry fruit, spice and a generosity that keeps you reaching for the next sip.

Tasting Notes

Tasting Notes

Featuring the Proprietor’s Grandfather, Sidney Neill – Wine Merchant, on the label, Picnic is our perennial favourite – the wine to enjoy every day and a wonderful introduction to the pleasure of Central Otago Pinot Noir. This fruit was sourced from Two Paddock’s own estate vineyards in the Alexandra, Gibbston and Bannockburn sub-regions of Central Otago. Picnic Pinot Noir is made in a diminutive style aimed to reflect the characters that Central Otago Pinot does so very well – black and red cherry fruit, spice and a generosity that keeps you reaching for the next sip.

2020 Vintage Comment

A dry cold 2019 winter continued into a dry spring that was dominated some severe wind and snow events. The critical flowering month of December was still relatively cool and experienced 50mm of rain over three days. As a result, flowering was both late and drawn out. Finally, the summer heat arrived in mid-January and lasted until mid-March but the critical cell division stage for the berries was also cool and along with the challenging conditions at flowering, resulted in crop levels being 30-40% down in many of the vineyard blocks. There were two pieces of very good news though – the smaller bunches and small berries were much easier for the vine to fully ripen in late summer and ultimately resulted in densely coloured, aromatic wines. 2020 harvest was one of the most compact that Two Paddocks has seen starting on the 6th of April and all done by the 24th April.

Winemakers Notes

Hand harvested, 89% de-stemmed and given 5-7 days pre-fermentation cold maceration. After an indigenous ferment the wine is given another 5-7 days post ferment time on skins. Wine is then transferred to 1-4 year old French medium toast barriques (4% new oak) for a 9 month maturation
in predominantly older oak, before racking and bottling.

"Redcurrant with wild herbs and blackberry follow into a lovely gorgeous mineral flow giving exuberance, freshness and poise, showing complexity and evolving tannins which will age well." Dean Shaw, Winemaker

“I happen to think this is one of the most enjoyable wines we have ever produced.” Sam Neill, Founder

pH  3.52                                  TA  6.2 g/l                           Alc 13.0 % 

Proprietor: Sam Neill               Viticulturist: Mike Wing            Winemaker: Dean Shaw

Bottled: April 2021                   Production: 1698  cases            Cellaring: 2021– 2024

To print tasting notes click here

$40.00