Julicher Estate Pinot Noir

Product Description

Wim arrived from Holland in 1972 and settled in the Hutt Valley where he worked for 25 years in the building industry. In 1996 he embarked upon a new challenge and a small project for his retirement! He and his late wife bought a piece of land in Te Muna Road, Martinborough with a dream of planting olive trees and producing top quality olive oil. However they hadn’t counted on the severe frosts, and a disastrous winter in 1998 wiped out 50 per cent of their total plantings. It was a steep learning curve but Wim was not about to give up. It had always been part of his plan to plant a small amount of vines and he decided to dedicate the majority of his land to growing grapes for wine production. It was a terrible blow to Wim when his wife died in the early stages of developing the vineyard and he almost gave up his dream. Fortunately family and friends encouraged him to keep going and with their support he continued to nurture his new project. A fortuitous meeting led him to his current partner Sue Darling, also from the Hutt Valley. Within a short period of time Sue became an integral part of the vineyard and business, and although she still misses some parts of city life she is thriving on the challenges and hard work that a vineyard demands. “I hardly knew Champagne from Chardonnay when I met Wim, and I had no idea the huge effort it takes to produce top quality wine”, says Sue. The hard work and hands on approach that Wim and Sue have to their wines has provided many rewards. In 2007 Julicher Estate Pinot Noir won the Champion Wine of the Show at the NZ International Wine Competition. “It was a fairytale night”, says Sue. “The moment that the wine was announced as the very best wine of the show is a moment that all wine producers dream of. Better than winning the Lotto!” Winning Champion Wine of the Show Trophy at the Air New Zealand Awards two years later was a huge endorsement of their dedication and drive for perfection.

Dark cherry red in colour. The bouquet shows perfumed, earthy and spicy with cherries, plums, dried herbs and violets. The palate is spicy and sweet fruit aromas of black cherry and plums. Rich, balanced and elegant wine with silky tannins, and a long lingering finish.