Domaine Thomson
Rows 76-89 Pinot Noir 2018 750ml

Behind the Bottle 

Rows 76 - 89 Pinot Noir 2018

A confirmed Domaine Thomson Team favourite, this single 10/5 clone pinot noir is a mouth-watering, beautifully silky wine with an elegant brightly textured palate showing great poise, balance, and finesse.

Our ‘Clonal Selection’ “Rows Series” Pinot Noir wines are only produced in exceptional years with the only previous vintages produced were in 2014 and 2017 from the Rows 1-37.

Tasting Notes: Lovely aromatics of dark blackcurrant, black doris plum, dried herbs, spices and dried cherries. A lighter beautiful frame showing excellent concentration and complexity. A silky wine with an elegant brightly textured palate showing great poise, balance and finesse. This very special wine will age extremely well – it will reward patience in the cellar.

Total Production: 202 cases, 10 Magnums and 5 Jeroboams.

Vintage: 2018 was our warmest vintage on record, with the harvest starting 3 weeks earlier than usual. With the high degree of ripeness, the 10/5 clone performed extremely well and we decided to bottle it separately. It is extremely rare for the 10/5 clone to be made and bottled without the support of other earlier ripening clones. Thus, this is a unique opportunity to taste organic wine made 100% from clone 10/5. Our “Rows Series” Pinot Noir wines are only produced in exceptional years and the only previous vintages produced were in 2014 and 2017 from the Rows 1-37. Winemaking Notes: Picked on the 14th of March, the single clone (10/5) Domaine-Thomson Rows 76-89 Pinot Noir was hand harvested and fermented using indigenous (natural) yeasts, with around 50% whole bunch fermented and the remainder destemmed but not crushed. Rested on lees for 10 months in French oak barrels, 33% new. No fining and medium filtration for clarity and stability.

Pinot Noir Spotlight via Riversun Nursery, by Nick Hoskins. 10/5 Clone: New Zealand’s importations of Pinot Noir clones began in the early 1960s, when government viticulturist Frank Berrysmith put Clone AM10/5 through quarantine. Selected by the Wädenswil Research Station in Switzerland, “Ten Bar Five” is responsible for most of the initial plantings of Pinot Noir in Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. In the field: Both the upright and semi-prostrate 10/5 are medium to high vigour, with medium to large bunches. Yields can be irregular. The upright clone is easy to mange; it requires only two sets of foliage wires and fewer wire lifts than the semi-prostrate strain or other clones of Pinot Noir. In the winery: Provided yields are controlled and canopy management is maintained, 10/5 can produce very good wine – as demonstrated by the sheer number of award-winning wines from Martinborough and Canterbury produced solely from this clone. Many of the current New Zealand Pinot Noir wines retain a percentage of 10/5 in the blend. While not known for its fruit flavours, 10/5 can add structural backbone and fine tannins to a wine. It must ripen fully: otherwise, it can impart undesirable green, herbal characteristics.