Blanc de Noirs 2020
Tasting Notes
Everflyht Blanc de Noirs 2020 is a blend of Pinot Noir and Meunière; hand-picked from our single estate vineyard. The grapes are handcrafted in the winery to produce a wine that tells the story of not just the vintage but of the varietials as well. This traditional method wine has been aged on the lees for 33 months. The wine has a delicate golden straw colour and is complex in style with a fruit forward profile of ripe strawberries giving way to complex buttery pastry notes with a lasting warm finish of spice.
VINTAGE
A roller-coaster of a season which ended on a high. A positive start with an early bud break and good consistent growth meant the inflorescence developed evenly across the vineyard. However, the vineyard was hit with a late frost event which led to the loss of around 15% of the inflorescence across pockets of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Flowering started in mid-June and was positive with warm bright days. July was cool which impacted the bunch formation and lengthened the lag phase of the berry development.
Veraison was rapid due to a fantastic warm September that meant the fruit developed some beautiful complex ripe flavour profiles within the grapes as well as some deep red & black colour concentration in both the Pinot Noir and Meunière giving the vintage depth and profound red fruit characteristics.
VINEYARD
Soil: Wealden Clay
Block Selection: Grapes were selected from two blocks of the vineyard, the House Pinot Meunière blocks (rows 12-24) Pinot Noir from House and Oaks blocks (rows 70-86 & 6-25 respectively)
Harvest Date: 5th & 6th October 2020
WINEMAKING
The Pinot Meunière and Pinot Noir were pressed on consecutive days, with the cuvee and taille of each press split separately between barrel and steel tanks for the 1st fermentation. The wine is made up of 40% new and old French oak barrels with the wines being aged for 7 months before been blended and bottled in July.
80% Pinot Noir (Clone 114, 375 & 792)
20% Pinot Meunière (Clones 865 & 817)
TS 5.6g/l
TA 8.3g/l
AVB 12%
pH 3.02
Bottled on 14th July 2021
Disgorged on the 24th June 2024
Technical cork closure
APPEARANCE
Star bright, golden straw with lemon highlights.
NOSE
Opulent strawberry, aromas of toasted brioche and warming spice of pink pepper corn, the edge of the profile is decorated with honeysuckle blossom bringing complexity and depth to round off the wine.
PALATE
A fine wine giving way to well balance acidity and a creamy textural weight with elegance and finesse. The structure is perfectly complemented with a mix of crisp red apple and spicy rhubarb, with a great length of warming lemon tart to finish.
FOOD PAIRING
A complex wine that can honour sophisticated dishes and big flavours.
Pair with game, white fish, lobster, crab or rare lamb.