Description

ABOUT THE PRODUCER:
Lake Chalice was established in 1989 with a vision of producing internationally recognised wines from the heart of the Marlborough region. New Zealand’s native falcon, the ‘Kārearea’, is proudly displayed on every bottle of Lake Chalice wine. Kārearea favour the remote mountains and foothills of the upper Awatere and Wairau Valleys and these valleys are home to Lake Chalice’s three unique vineyard sites. Each vineyard has a diverse microclimate, biodiversity and terroir which are seamlessly translated into multi award winning wines by talented winemaker Chloe Gabrielsen. Taking a boutique approach, she handcrafts parcels of fruit from single vineyards into elegant, aromatic, fruit driven wines and has garnered a global reputation of outstanding quality. Certified ‘Sustainable Winegrower of New Zealand’.

THE VINTAGE:
Short periods of rain during the harvest were followed by brilliant sunshine and mild breezes which helped to dry the berries. Harvest started in earnest on 13th March and continued at a steady and manageable pace with minimal pressure. The vintage proceeded in near perfect conditions, with 2019 producing exceptional quality fruit with very concentrated flavours with excellent natural acidity.

ABOUT THE VINEYARD:
The Pinot Noir grapes were sourced from the founding Eyrie Vineyard in the Waihopai Valley on the southern side of the Wairau Plain. The vines are trained as Vertical Shoot position (VSP), which is the most common training system in the Marlborough region, as it helps to facilitate practices such as leaf removal, shoot removal and cluster thinning. The clone 667 vines, which make up one of the smallest parcels from the vineyard, were hand-harvested. The vines are sustainably cultivated as part of the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme, which entails biodiversity conservation, plant protection strategies, managed fertiliser use and water resource management. Additionally, hack boxes which are strategically placed in the vineyard are used to release young Kārearea falcons back into the wild.

THE WINEMAKING PROCESS:
The Plume is Lake Chalice’s finest Pinot Noir. 20% of the fruit was co-fermented as whole clusters, imparting layers of complexity. It was 100% matured for 10 months in 225-litre French oak barriques, one third of which was new, one third was second use and one third was third use. The quality of the fruit was so high that this wine was vinified without fining or filtration and was crafted with the aim of spending time in bottle, so it may have a natural sediment from its time being bottle-aged.

OUR TASTING NOTES:
Dark fruit aromas are layered with savoury characters and delicate spice which follow through to the textured and beautifully balanced palate. Silky and smooth with a long, exquisite finish.

GRAPE VARIETY:
Pinot Noir 100%.

AWARDS:
• Silver, International Wine Challenge, 2024