Colour/Appearance Bright deep garnet. Aroma/Bouquet Savoury ripe plum and cherry, with a hint of game and smoky oak. Palate Full to medium bodied wine with round, mouth filling flavours of plum and cherry, pleasing weight and a long elegant finish with good acidity. Oak integrates nicely with the fruit, and helps with the silky tannin structure

Wine maker notes

Hand picked fruit was de-stemmed, cold soaked for five days and fermented in small open top vats with frequent punch downs. A majority of the wine was fermented with wild yeast. Early pressing allowed the end ferment and malolactic fermentation to occur while aging in mixed aged, tight grain, medium toast French oak.

Technical notes

Alcohol 13.5% Residual sugar 2.2 g/L pH 3.46 Titratable Acidity 5.4 g/L 100% Pinot Noir, clones 777, 667, 115, 114, 5, 10/5 and Abel

Other text

Cellaring While best drinking after a years bottle age in early 2010, the wine has already come together well, and is ready now. Bottling date was 5th March, 2009.

Food pairing

Farm raised venison, tender rare lamb, mild game, duck and oily fish such as tuna and salmon

Producer

When winemaker Simon Waghorn created his own brand, he chose the name Astrolabe because of historic ties with Marlborough and connotations of exploration and discovery. An astrolabe is an ancient instrument of navigation that measures the altitude of the stars, and also the name of an early sailing ship exploring the Marlborough coast. All Simon’s skill and experience combine to capture the essence of Marlborough in wines of purity, focus and elegance. Simon is fascinated by the unique qualities of the Awatere Valley and Kekerengu Coast sub-regions, whether bottled alone, or blended as part of the Marlborough classic.