Technical Notes
2008 Marchand and Burch Mt Barrow Pinot Noir

Fruit Sourcing
The 2008 Mount Barrow Pinot Noir is sourced from a single vineyard in the Mt Barker sub-region of the Great Southern in WA. This site has been identified as producing Pinot Noir grapes of a quality potential to earn single estate status at Marchand and Burch.

Fruit and Must Handling
Individual parcels of fruit according to soil types from each vineyard were hand picked and transported by refrigerated trailer to the Denmark winery. The chilled bunches were hand sorted to remove damage, disease and leaf then gently destemmed to open fermenters. Pre fermentation cold soaking for 3 to 7 days was used to extract maximum colour and optimise fruit flavour.

Fermentation
Spontaneous fermentation was used as this allows the natural yeast population to dominate the yeast population making for a more complex base wine. The ferment size was 1 or 4T and all were handplunged and pumped over from 2-4 times/day. This cap management varies according to the individual ferment needs.

Post fermentation skin maceration for up to 3 weeks was used to build structure in the wine allowing the wine to extract the supple wine tannins from the grape skins.

Maturation
The separate parcels were matured in French barriques with around a 33% new oak component. Maturation was carried out for 8 months with a spontaneous malolactic fermentation being allowed to occur during this period.

Finishing
The final blend was carefully put together and received minimal fining and filtration before being put to bottle. The wine was then given eight months bottle maturation before being released.

Wine Notes
The 2008 vintage was a great vintage across all the varieties. The Mount Barrow Pinot Noir has benefited from complete ripening in the moderate and benign conditions to produce a wine of great structure and personality.

The hue of this wine is a deep crimson showing beautiful intensity and colour. The nose is reminiscent of black cherries with smoked meats and forest floor accents.

The palate has power and balance: concentrated cherry, earth and mushroom fruit layers encased in a silky mid-palate texture. This medium bodied wine has restraint, finesse and evenness: there are no dips or holes in the flavour profile. The finish is long and intense lingering with dark cherry and hints of chocolate. The structure is of firm supple tannins that give a wonderful backbone to the wine without being domineering.

Technical Notes
Harvest Date 11th March 2008
Alcohol 13.4%
pH 3.52
TA 6.2g/L as tartaric acid titrated to pH 8.2
Oak: 8 months in 33% new, 67% seasoned French barriques from Damy, Francois Frere, Mercurey and Toutant.