2020 Clark Estate “Black Birch” Pinot Gris

Silver Medal – 2020 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards, Auckland

Bronze Medal – 2021 International Wine Challenge, London

93 points / 5 stars            Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Delightfully ripe and inviting, showing yellow peach, Nashi pear and lemon peel characters on the nose. The palate displays lovely focus and persistency with silky texture and refreshing acidity, making it fabulously drinkable. At its best: now to 2023.

88 points / 3.5 stars            Bob Campbell, MW

Awatere Valley Pinot Gris in an off-dry style with pear, ripe apple and honeysuckle supported by fine and slightly green acidity.

90 points Premium            Cameron Douglas MS

Varietal and classic with distinctive aromas and flavours of brown pair, Asian pear, a touch of sherbet and mild lees autolysis. Medium+ acidity and weight, just dry with a fleshy textured palate. The finish suggests honeysuckle white spice and Asian pear flavours. Balanced and well-made, ready to enjoy from today and through 2022.

91 points / 4 stars            Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews

Clear, straw-yellow with a gold hue, even colour throughout. The nose is full, a concentrated core aroma of pear, melon, baked apple, entwined with the floral scent of lilies and discreet five-spice. Medium-full bodied, the palate is lush with good intensity aromas of ripe pear, baked apple and melon. The palate has weight and power, enriched by subtle sweetness and lingering five-spice. The mouthfeel is round with good flow, supported by lively integrated acidity, lends a succulent finish. This is a powerful Pinot Gris with lush fruit and subtle five-spice on a round, smooth mouthfeel. Match with crispy-skin duck and roast pork over the next 3-4 years.

4 stars            Michael Cooper

The ageworthy 2020 vintage was estate-grown in the upper Awatere Valley. Pale straw, it is mouthfilling, with good intensity of peachy, spicy flavours, a vague hint of sweetness, and a slightly creamy texture. Best drinking 2022+. 

Viticulture

Our vines are now sending their roots deep into the old soils of the Upper Awatere valley, soils which have been molded over the millennia and the vines struggle to find the nutrients they need, helping to reduce the crop naturally, giving us small but flavoursome fruit every year.

Winemaking

The grapes were quickly pressed off the skins and fermented under very cool conditions.  The ferment was stopped when the fruit sweetness complimented the fine acidity. The wine was left on full yeast lees for an extended period to mature and gain extra complexity.

The 2020 Black Birch Pinot Gris is delicate yet powerful.  There is an abundance of quince and ripe pear aromas with full body weight and a creamy texture, laced with ginger nut and bread yeast characters.  All held together with beautifully fine acidity.

Wine Analysis

pH        3.46

TA        6.35 g/L

Alc       13.0%

RS       7.0 g/L

The Black Birch is a pristine alpine stream which feeds clean mountain waters into the main Awatere River.  The Black Birch range also directs cooler winds down onto the vines during the autumn months, slowing the ripening process just enough to ripen the Pinot Gris fruit to perfection.

Our Pinot Gris has a delicate richness and power driven by the low cropping and fully ripened grapes hanging from the vines that have been nourished by the Black Birch waters.