# Schubert Estate Pinot Noir (2024)

- **Producer:** Schubert Wines
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Pinot Noir
- **Region:** Wairarapa, New Zealand
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 13.5%
- **Average price:** €26
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 15–17 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, strawberry, redcurrant, rose, orange, cloves, vanilla, cedar, forest floor, mushroom

## About this wine

Schubert Wines was founded in 1998 by German-trained winemakers Kai Schubert and Marion Deimling, graduates of the prestigious Geisenheim University. After a global search for the perfect Pinot Noir terroir, they established their estate in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. The region's cool, windy climate and dry autumns provide ideal conditions for low yields of highly concentrated fruit. The 2024 vintage is celebrated as a benchmark year in Wairarapa, characterized by a cool spring that naturally reduced crop sizes, followed by a warm, dry summer that allowed for slow, exceptionally even ripening and superb phenolic maturity.

## Interesting facts

- Founders Kai Schubert and Marion Deimling searched globally before choosing Wairarapa as the ultimate terroir for Pinot Noir.
- To avoid extracting harsh seed bitterness, no pumps are used; juice is transferred to the press gravity-style using a crane.
- The estate's vineyards are planted in an ultra-dense European style, maximizing vine competition and fruit concentration.

## Food pairing

The vibrant acidity and elegant medium body of this Pinot Noir cut beautifully through the richness of fatty poultry like duck and salmon. Its earthy, savory undertones complement mushroom-based dishes, while the fine-grained tannins frame roasted meats without overpowering them.

## Wine making process

The winemaking process at Schubert Estate emphasizes minimal intervention and gentle handling. Grapes are hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard using shallow baskets to prevent premature crushing. In the cellar, the fruit is 100% de-stemmed but kept as whole berries. Following a cold maceration, fermentation occurs in small-batch, temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, with the juice remaining on the skins for approximately three weeks. To avoid extracting harsh seed bitterness, gravity flow is utilized instead of pumps to transfer the juice to the press. The wine is aged for 18 months in French oak barriques (35% new) where it undergoes malolactic fermentation, and is bottled unfined with only a coarse filtration.