Tapanappa ‘Definitus’ 2021 Pinot Noir

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This 2021 Definitus special bottling of Foggy Hill Pinot Noir has a translucent, medium intensity cerise colour.
The aroma is immediately of rose florals and wild strawberries. There is an underlying more complex aroma of ripe blackberries and Chinese 5 spice definitive of the Foggy Hill terroir.
The flavours are fresh and intense. Because of the very moderate alcohol (12.3%) the wine is lilting in the mouth but with a significant texture to compliment the characteristic Foggy Hill earthy, spicey complexity. The tannins are fine but pervasive and the cool year 2021 Definitus will benefit from a decade or longer of bottle age.

Vintage Notes

2021 vintage was the second consecutive cooler than average vintage after a sequence dominated by above average temperature vintages from 2016 to 2019. At Foggy Hill 2021 was cooler than average with a growing season heat summation (HDD) of 1330°C days, just below the average of 1331°C days. In 2021 there were no heat waves and the only two months of above average temperature were November and April.

Fruit set in late November established a bigger than average crop of 7 tonnes/hectare for the whole vineyard, but for the Definitus vineyard section the crop was only 5 tonnes/hectare.

In 2021 Definitus delivered disease free, thoroughly ripe fruit in perfect condition at very moderate sugar levels. These grapes were harvested on the 17th of March- the normal harvest time.

Winemaking Notes

The hand harvested Pinot Noir fruit from the Definitus area of Foggy Hill Vineyard was delivered to the Tapanappa Winery in the Piccadilly Valley. The 0.9 tonne fermentation tubs were filled with chilled destemmed and crushed must and allowed a two-day cold soak beginning at 2°C. The tubs were then inoculated with our own grown yeast strain and allowed to ferment to a maximum temperature of 33°C with daily hand plunging of the cap.

At the end of fermentation after 16 days, the tubs were sealed to allow 5 days of maceration on skins then pressed to barriques (one third new) with an inoculation of a malo-lactic bacterial strain. After malo-lactic fermentation on full lees, the batches were racked and returned to barrique for maturation. After 9 months in barrique the 2021 Foggy Hill Definitus batch was clear racked and bottled in January of 2022.

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