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Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024

Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024
Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024
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Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024

SKU: MDPN202412 UCAU
3-5 Years
Regular price $64.99 $53.99 / bottle
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Head winemaker Matt Dicey helped build Mt Difficulty in 1998, and stayed on as head winemaker, 2018 being his 20th vintage

Sourced from varied vineyards across Bannockburn and Mt Diff.

Dense and dark, ripe fruited notes enrich the palate.

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Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024

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Tasting Notes

Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024 captures the essence of Central Otago’s premier terroir with remarkable depth and elegance. Under the masterful direction of Matt Dicey, whose dedication since 1998 has shaped Mt Difficulty’s distinct style, this vintage showcases a refined complexity that speaks to decades of winemaking expertise.

Harvested from a carefully selected blend of vineyards across the Bannockburn and Mt Difficulty subregions, this Pinot Noir reflects the unique characteristics of a warm, dry climate paired with gravelly soils. These ideal conditions foster intense fruit concentration and textural richness, key hallmarks of the region’s celebrated wines.

The 2024 vintage stands out with its dense and dark profile, offering an inviting palate filled with ripe cherry, juicy blackberry, and succulent plum flavors. Layered subtle earthy notes and fine, silky tannins contribute to a structured and balanced wine that delivers both power and finesse. This complexity aligns perfectly with Central Otago’s vibrant viticultural tradition, making the wine approachable yet impressively refined.

Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2024 is a testament to the harmonious blend of exceptional vineyard sites and meticulous craftsmanship. Its rich, fruit-forward character combined with a polished finish makes it a compelling expression of Pinot Noir’s potential in this coveted New Zealand region.

Vinification & Cultivation

Crafted only for our premium wines

Vineyard Cultivation

Mt Difficulty was established at Bannockburn in Central Otago in the late 1990s and is now part of Foley Family Wines. The Bannockburn Pinot Noir is a sub-regional blend drawn from a range of estate and Bannockburn-district vineyards, planted on free-draining loess and schist-derived soils over the district's classic gravels. Bannockburn's semi-continental climate - hot, dry days and sharply cool nights - drives even ripening and firm natural acidity in the fruit. The 2024 season across Central Otago produced concentrated, structured Pinot Noir; vineyards were managed for balanced yields and full flavour ripeness, with the varied sites contributing both power and detail to the final blend.

Vinification

Fruit was hand-picked, largely destemmed with a portion retained as whole bunches, and cold-soaked before fermentation in open-top vessels using a mix of wild and inoculated yeasts. Regular hand plunging and pump-overs managed a gentle extraction across time on skins, building the wine's dark-fruited, structured character. After pressing, the wine completed malolactic fermentation and was matured in French oak barriques, a proportion of them new, before blending and bottling. The result is a dense, dark, ripe-fruited style with a fine web of tannin and a long, structural finish.

About this Wine

Central Otago

Central Otago is the southernmost wine growing region in the world, located at a latitude of 45 degrees south, on New Zealand’s south island. A spectacular landscape makes the region one of the most scenic wine regions if not in the world then certainly in New Zealand. Central to the region is the tourist destination of Queenstown, which is a great base to make wine trips from.

Heavy mineral deposits in silt loams are typical for the soils in Central Otago, but is unlike any other region in New Zealand. The Otago region is the countries only ‘continental ’ wine growing region.

Pinot Noir is the flagship red varietal, which is very well suited to the regions large diurnal shifts (a large diurnal shift means a big difference between low and high temperatures) and also the regions long, cool and dry autumn. The Pinot Noirs coming out of the Otago region are most often fragrant, lush Pinot Noirs with silky textures and true fruit intensity.

Aromatic whites also thrive, in particular Riesling where anything from bone-dry to very sweet can be made. Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and lesser amounts of Chardonnay is also made to a very high quality. Central Otago is in Jancis Robinson’s top five New World wine producing regions.

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