Mt Difficulty Long Gully Noble Riesling 2011 375ml
The wet early autumn of 2011 allowed us to capture lovely stonefruit botrytis characters along with floral citrus. The palate displays luscious stone-fruit and citrus characters, partly driven by the 220g/L-1 residual sugar, which lead into a rich full mid palate and finish on a lovely citrus note. Great natural acidity has resulted in a wine that starts sweet but finishes with a clean flourish.
Cellaring potential:
Mt Difficulty Long Gully Riesling will improve for 7-12 years given optimal cellaring conditions.
Vintage:
Proper care at all times in the vineyard and winery was the making of vintage 2011. Conditions were difficult but the quality of fruit was very good, provided the right decisions were made.
Spring was fantastically settled, which led to excellent flowering and fruit set. Usual spring conditions arrived late, and unsettled weather was the norm right through January and February! Despite this, it was also pretty warm; it was almost too perfect for canopy and bunch development, leading to bigger than normal berries, and higher bunch weights as a result. Finally some semblance of normality arrived in March with conditions settling. These conditions continued through autumn, other than one wet spell which high-lighted how tender and thin-skinned the berries were this season. In the winery it was a season where the fruit needed empathy, and the direction of the wine was dictated by the fruit.
Vineyard:
The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty label are subject to two strict criteria: they are managed under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty viticultural team and must be sourced from vineyards situated in a very specific area - the South side of the Kawarau River at Bannockburn. Mt Difficulty Single Vineyard wines are even more site specific, created to express the terroir from which they come, and thus Mt Difficulty Long Gully Noble Riesling is the essence of the vineyard itself. Long Gully consists of Lochar soils which are formed in older fans. They have very weakly developed, thin and wavy clay pans which are deep enough to cause no impediment to roots or drainage. These are well-drained, high pH soils ideally suited to viticulture. They generally have a 30 cm depth of top soil over fine to moderately coarse gravels.
For international shipping options please email info@mtdifficulty.co.nz
or contact your nearest International Distributor
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