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Buy OnlineWinery notes (2022 Vintage)
"Olearia Lineata is a small dense tree with elegant fine branches and tiny drought resistant leaves that once carpeted the valley floors of Central Otago. We are fortunate to have large numbers of these officially ‘at-risk’ trees in and around both our Bendigo vineyards and continue to plant more.
Vibrant red and dark cherry, hints of boysenberry and layers of baking spices are in perfect harmony in this seamless wine. The dusty, integrated tannins add structure to the elegant middle palate and the lingering finish is filled with mineral and red fruit notes.
This wine has been sourced exclusively from the highest elevation parcels on our Rocky Point Vineyard, located in the hills of Bendigo sub-region, Central Otago. Perched at the rugged southern end of Bendigo, the Rocky Point Vineyard has some of the steepest planted blocks in Central Otago. The site rises from 226 metres to 351 metres, and walking through the vines one feels the land drop away very sharply to the blue waters of Lake Dunstan below.
The metamorphic parent material of Central Otago forms the soil here, schist rock in varying degrees of decomposition – from solid slabs to pockets of fine clay. The site has very low vigour and small yields are the norm. Despite low organic matter, the soils have high mineral content so the small vines seldom show any deficiency.
A strong focus on viticulture is the foundation of the winemaking approach. Yields are consistently managed to 30-35hl/ha or approximately 4ton/ha. The handpicked fruit is destemmed and fermented using only indigenous ‘wild’ yeast. A key feature of our vinification is extremely low extraction, all our small open top tanks are only hand-plunged once during fermentation. The wine then spends 17 months in barrel (35% new) and undergoes indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine is bottled unfiltered under Diam cork.
Our winemaking aims to be an exercise in understanding and translating our stunning sites into wine as accurately as possible with a minimum of winery signature. Decant for full expression and cellar with confidence for 10+ years from vintage."
94+/100 Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2022 Vintage)
"The 2022 Olearia Pinot Noir is the second vintage of the Olearia Vineyard and is planted on schist at Rocky Point. The vineyard is now 15 years old, and it took that long to get to a place where the fruit was complex and mature enough to be bottled under its own label. Olearia is a native flowering tree with highly aromatic flowers (features in the vermouth, if you're interested!). The 2022 Olearia and the Home Vineyard Pinot Noirs are being tasted side by side today, and both were picked at the same time (depending on the parcels, all within five days of each other), and made in the same way, so it's a fascinating dive into terroir. In the Olearia glass, the wine is lighter in colour and more mineral on the nose, with graphite, dried bay leaf, hints of scratched licorice, cracked white peppercorns and pomegranate molasses. In the mouth, the wine is silky and restrained, with fruit, yes but tannins most clearly. This is gritty and chalky at once, with a mineral splay of texture through the finish—the tannins drag the flavour through the long finish. Very impressive wine here. Winemaker Paul Pujol just showed me a photo of the “soil,” which is composed of very little organic matter and loads of broken schist rock. 13% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 32 barrels made. Drink 2023-2038."
94/100 James Suckling (2022 Vintage)
"Flint, schist, and dried strawberries with some orange peel undertones. Briny. Perfumed. Medium body, firm and velvety with a creamy and polished finish. Shows brightness with a caressing mouthfeel. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold."
