The 2006 vintage of Wild Earth has that unmistakable NZ Pinot fleshiness and richness. The fruit is essentially dark blackcurrant, bramble, spice smoky plum with some wild gamey aromatics. As mentioned there is a warm rich complex mouth feel showing elegance, dark brooding flavours and a long persistent finish.
Wild Earth founder Quintin Quider is an expatriate Californian who spent many years living in the South Island and he has gathered a small, dedicated team to produce his Wild Earth range in Central Otago. This is one of the most unpredictable viticultural areas in the world where extremes of temperature make winemaking a challenge. Half the grapes for this wine came from the Terraces Vineyards in Felton Road (Bannockburn) and the rest from Wild Earth’s Lowburn Vineyard.
The 05/06 season started with promise and on schedule, but untimely frosts in November had the effect of dramatically reducing bunch weights and yields. The New Year bought with it a superb summer, with long, dry settled weather, allowing the reduced crop to ripen fully. Prior to harvest 5 distinct batches were selected in the vineyard according to their clones and managed individually as they reached physiological maturity. Grapes were hand-picked and once at the winery a fifth of the total volume was whole bunch fermented with the remainder de-stemmed. The must was left for between 5 - 8 days on cold soak at around 10°C, with twice-daily hand plunging. Fermentation lasted 5 – 8 days, with hand plunging up to four times daily and temperatures peaking at 32°C. After pressing, the wines were racked into 225 litre oak barriques of which 1/3 was new French oak. The wines remained in oak for ten months before the final blend. Minimal fining and a light filtration took place before bottling. Wild Earth will drink well from now until 2010/2012