TERRA SANCTA SPECIAL RELEASE FIRST VINES PINOT NOIR 2022

5 Stars & 96/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review
95/100 JamesSuckling.com
5 Stars Michael Cooper

Winery notes (2022 Vintage)
"In a vintage that produced an abundance of outstanding fruit with loads of character, we crafted this inaugrual First Vines Pinot Noir. Showcasing our first planted Pinot Noir from a great vintage, the 2022 fruit possesses the qualities Terra Sancta looks for in all our wines – purity and character.

Alluring from the outset, the attractive nose is layered and lifted with orange peel, roses, red berries, cedar and spices. Medium bodied, the complex palate possesses cherries, plums, blue fruits, anise, minerality and dried herbs. Possessing velvety texture, it is impressively lingering with spice at the finish. This is a Pinot Noir with subtle power, worth the wait.

Organically certified, and farmed regeneratively including the use of sheep throughout the season to enhance soil health, 1995 planted Sarah’s Block takes centre stage in this Pinot Noir. One of Terra Sancta’s original blocks, due to a combination of vine age, clones and its schist and gravel soils, Sarah’s Block produces fruit with complexity, minerality and purity. Additional depth and character is provided by fruit from our two oldest blocks also farmed organically and regeneratively – Jackson’s and Slapjack.

Made with complete transparency, our intention was to simply showcase exceptional fruit from our oldest vines, in an outstanding vintage. Using no whole bunch or new oak, the tannins in this Pinot Noir are entirely fruit derived. Pinot Noir grapes from our first planted vines were handpicked and small batch fermented in neutral barrique with no additions. Composed from barriques identified in the winery as exceptional with 80% Sarah’s Block Pinot Noir, the wine spent 16 months in oak prior to bottling. Neither fined nor filtered, it was bottled at Terra Sancta under cork and wax."