Rochford Wines

Rochford Yarra Valley Reserve Pinot Noir

Vintage
2003

Varieties
100% Pinot Noir

Tasting Notes
Deep plum in colour and brilliant in clarity. The nose shows lifted dark berry pinot fruit overlayed with high note oak, mocha and savoury characters. The palate is rich and full flavoured. The finish is long and soft with well integrated acid and tannin. This is a powerful wine while still showing the true elegance of Pinot Noir.

Cellaring
4 to 6 years

Winemaking Notes
When making Pinot Noir we try to keep things as simple as possible and let the vineyard characters do all of the talking. After de-stemming and chilling the fruit was cold soaked for 7 days before the addition of a pure yeast culture. The wine was fermented for a further 7 days. During the cold-soak period colour and flavour are extracted in a aqueous, while the extraction of hard tannins is avoided. At about 1 degree Baume two thirds of the wine was transferred to new oak barrels where it completed it's fermentation. This gives good integration of the new oak and provides additional complexity. The balance of the wine was pressed at dryness, settled for 2 to 3 days to remove large solids, and then racked into oak for malo lactic fermentation. After malo lactic fermentation the wine was left to settle, racked, and then returned to oak for a further 12 months maturation. This wine is a selection of the best barrels from the best bocks. The wine has not been fined but did receive a light filtration prior to bottling.

Viticultural Notes
The 2002/2003 growing season was mild and dry. All fruit was hand picked with the three different clones being picked over a period of two three weeks.

Technical Data
Alcohol 14.0%
pH 3.57
Titratable acidity 6.0 grams per litre
Residual sugar 0.2 grams per litre

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