Simon’s Wine Craft Pinot Gris

Notes from the winemaker

Simon says; “The grapes were sourced from Orange. Firstly, I kept the hard pressings separate from the free run/lightly pressed juice. The harder pressings tend to have more flavour precursors because at the end of the cycle the grapes are being squeezed really hard. Then I used a yeast strain typically used in Chardonnay. This particular strain brings out the tropical and stone fruit flavours in the juice and also gives the wine a creamy texture. I also fermented the wine with some untoasted French oak staves. Untoasted oak is used in wine to give it texture without the oak flavour and fermenting on oak helps it to integrate into the wine. The wine was also aged on yeast lees to add some more creaminess and texture. The yeast lees breakdown under a process called autolysis. The pH of the wine is 3.14 which is on the low side for white winemaking. Having a low pH helps the wine to age and brings out more fresh fruit flavours”