Rippon Pinot Noir Mature Vine
| Azienda vinicola | Rippon |
| Denominazione | Central Otago Lake Wanaka |
| Stile del vino | Vino Rosso Fruttato |
| Annata | 2020 |
| Chiusura | Sughero |
| Viticoltura | Biodinamica |
| Alcol in volume | 14% |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Potenziale di invecchiamento dalla vendemmia | < 10 Anni |
| Invecchiamento | Vecchio barile di rovere |
Note di degustazione
Flawless fruity red wine. Moderately intense garnet red tears. Variegated nose that starts minerally and then passes into small red fruits, wild strawberry and raspberry with dry twigs and white pepper. Very slim texture with elegant tannins and subdued alcohol impression, beautifully interwoven components with a complex long finish. Delicious to enjoy on its own with an exciting book or to serve with roasted young pigeon, lamb, pasta with tomato garnish or an early vegetables stew. Serving temperature: 15°C
Wine Story
Wine has been in the Mills family veins and on their dining tables since the late 19th century but the reality of growing their own grapes and wines on their family farm was only realised in the 1980s.
Rolfe Mills, one of the founders of Central Otago’s modern wine industry, served as a submarine lieutenant in the Second World War and was stationed in the Atlantic for a while off the Portuguese coast. Seeing vines on the schist laden slopes of the Douro Valley lit a light bulb in his brain and the possibility of grapes at Rippon was born.
It was not, however, until the mid 1970s that he and his wife, Lois, planted their first experimental vines on their Wānaka farm which, at the time, was home to angora goats. Seeing how well the vines took to the glacial soils convinced him of the potential for Vitis vinifera in New Zealand’s southernmost region. In spite of the negative responses his belief received, Rolfe and a few others in Central Otago, persisted with his dream and, in the early 1980s, Rippon’s first commercial vines were planted, some of the first in the region.
Today, we are the fourth generation farming the land; four of Rolfe’s children working on the farm with a long term committed team and a motley array of vineyard dogs, fifth generation children and a herd of cows.
Having cared for this very special piece of land for over a hundred years, the primary focus of all who live and work on the farm is to preserve the property for future generations and to grow wines that speak clearly of their home: Rippon.
15 hectares of vines, of which 80% are on their own roots, are farmed biodynamically and organically with no irrigation, then hand harvested and treated with care and minimal intervention in the winery. The Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Pinot Noir and Rippon “Rippon” Mature Vine Riesling are grown from parcels within the single vineyard of Rippon where the vines are over around 15 years old. These parcels have shown to us, over years of careful watching, listening and tasting, that the vines are of an age where they are beginning to be able to articulate clearly the voice of our farm as a whole: Rippon.
