Otway Wines Pinot Noir 2024
$39.50 Inc GST
100% Abel clone, AKA the “Gumboot” clone, or “the Ata Rangi” clone with an interesting back story.
Morello cherry, dry rose and forest floor. Silky, savoury and beautifully persistent.
Elegant and complex, this wine reflects the winemaking style of its maker – Ray Nadeson of Lethbridge Wines, while still displaying the characteristics of the cool Otways climate, and the Abel clone.
The grapes were harvested in our compact Deans Marsh vineyard on Easter Saturday 2024. The grapes were delivered to Lethbridge on the same day and immediately chilled before 50% pressing the next day.
The wine was wild yeast and barrel fermented with 50% whole bunches – initially in new oak but transferred to old oak after a few months to ensure correct weight and balance (right alongside Lethbridge’s own amazing pinot noirs).
As with all of our wine, this 2024 pinot noir has been held back for several years bottle aging before release.
The Abel Clone Story
The Abel clone, also known as the gumboot, or Ata Rangi, clone was propagated from a bunch of cuttings allegedly stolen from the famous (and frightfully expensive) Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy and smuggled into New Zealand in the mid-1970’s.
The cuttings were discovered by Malcolm Abel, a NZ customs officer at the time. It was reputedly hidden inside a gumboot of a wine loving rugby player. Coming from a wine making family, Malcolm realised the significance of the cutting. The Abel family ushered it through quarantine and propagated it in the family Ata Rangi vineyard – ultimately producing Pinot Noir that has been described as one of the best examples outside Burgundy.
The Abel clone is regarded as exhibiting more complexity and savoury notes than other pinot noir clones.
Reviews
The Wine Front – Gary Walsh
92 points.
“All Abel clone. 50% whole bunch.
Strawberry, cherry, a distinct roasted red capsicum and tomato top note, a slight petrol thing, spice and quiet rosy perfume. It’s medium-bodied, crisp, red-fruited, a sappy feel to it, quite bright too, with a fine pumice stone grip to tannin, and a little blood orange carrying on a finish of good length. You have to like a Pinot with a certain dusting of paprika and woody spice, but I like the energy here, and it’s also a wine of distinct character. Nice.”