• French oak
• Blueberry & cherry
• Violets & cedar
• Spicy tannins

The nose has lifted aromas of roses, violets, blueberry, spice and smoke. The palate has concentrated flavours of dark cherry, plum, cedar and earth with full spicy tannins leading to a sustained finish. 

The fruit for this wine is from our home vineyard at Matahiwi, a raised gravel ridge outside Masterton in Wairarapa. The combination of these naturally low yields and the beautiful warm dry summer and autumn ripened the fruit to perfection. For this wine we targeted small blocks of the best vines for extra fruit thinning and canopy management to maximize quality.

The fruit was harvested by clonal selection and for this wine we used 50% Abel clone for structure and spice, 31% clone 115 for fruit and mid palate richness, and 19% Clone 667 for aromatic lift and charm. The Abel fruit was 100% whole bunch fermented while the 667 and 115 were co fermented with 6% whole clusters. After maceration for up to 22 days on skins the young wines were run to barrel, 50% new French oak, where they underwent malolactic fermentation. The wines aged in barrel on full lees for a total of 11 months before being racked out and bottled with no fining.

Bruce by Matahiwi Estate Pinot Noir, are two very special barrels of our top Pinot Noir. Bruce was the grandfather of Holly, our reserve label namesake. He was a one of a kind person who loved his community, as well as bagpipes and tartan. We don’t make Bruce every year, only in very special years, to honour a very special man.

Food Pairing: Excellent for sipping by the fire with a fat stogie, this wine is a great match for rich meat dishes like jugged hare, venison casserole or beef steak.