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The 25-year-old Cowley Family Vineyard is located in the Ben Morven foothills of Marlborough. It’s a magnificent, sweeping site, divided into a large number of sub-plots and nurtured meticulously (and organically) by Ben Cowley. Corofin’s fruit comes from the main slopes, planted at a density of 3,800 vines per hectare on clay-rich soils. 2015 was the first year that Mike Paterson worked exclusively with the vineyard’s 20-year-old Abel vines—otherwise known as the ‘Gumboot clone’ for the way it made its way to New Zealand. The Abel fruit is prized for its natural acidity, tannins and extract. Largely, for this reason, the Cowley delivers a deeper and darker expression of Pinot than Settlement. That said, all of Paterson’s 2017 Pinots capture a good measure of silky charm and floral lift and this wine is no different. Expect a bright, floral wine with plenty of jubey, red currant and wild strawberry fruit as well as a wonderfully cool, sappy freshness and plenty of fine tannins running the length of the palate. There’s also some subtle smoked meat and earthy complexity that might give a clue to the wine’s future development. It reminded me of a young Nuits but from a site that delivers stacks of perfume and prettiness to go with the mineral backbone. Superb!
Mike’s winemaking notes: "Handpicked on April 2nd. Four days in sealed tanks with 20% whole bunches, then foot trodden, natural ferment (eight days followed by six days on skins), pressed to old barrel; spontaneous malolactic in the late spring/early summer with the wine remaining on original lees for 13 months; racked to tank for seven months, before being bottled without fining or filtration in mid-November 2018."