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Domaine-Thomson launches special bottling from Central Otago
Domaine-Thomson has launched a special bottling of Central Otago Pinot Noir from the 2014 vintage when all the “stars were aligned weather wise”.
200 cases of Rows 1-37 were made and each bottle is numbered individually
According to PM Chan, who manages Domaine-Thomson with her husband David Hall-Jones, the new wine celebrates the quality of not only the 2014 harvest, but also a particular section of their 14-hectare property in Central Otago, called Surveyor Thomson (named after David’s great-great-grandfather, New Zealand’s first Surveyor General, John Turnbull Thomson).
Chan told the drinks business, “In 2014, we had an excellent year, even flowering, long sunny days of abundant sunshine and overall high quality of fruit.”
Continuing she said, comparing the conditions to the Côte d’Or, where the couple also own a property, “2014 in New Zealand was equivalent to the 2015 in Burgundy – the stars were aligned weather wise.”
As a result, she said that it had been decided to isolate the best fruit from their New Zealand estate for a special bottling – a move endorsed by Domain Thomson’s winemaker in Otago, Dean Shaw.
She explained, “We observed that a particular part of the Surveyor Thomson parcel (rows 1-37) was of superb quality and a decision was made to vinify the fruit from these separately.”
Continuing, she said, “The wine from rows 1-37 was made in our new giant cuve from Tonnellerie Rousseau of Gevrey-Chambertin [where Domaine Thomson own a half-hectare plot called Les Evocelles], while the wine from the rest of the Surveyor Thomson (ST) parcel was made the usual way.”
Chan then recalls, “When it came to blending, Dean Shaw and I tasted the ST14 and ST14 1-37 separately, they each had a distinct style individually. Then we made a blend of the two and tasted the blend. We came to the unanimous view that the blend did not reflect the unique differences between the two parcels within ST and that it was better to bottle the two separately. Over the years the wine has continued to evolve and it’s been interesting to see how they are different.”
200 cases of 1-37 were made and each bottle was numbered individually to emphasise the uniqueness of this cuvée. For the 2014, 1225 cases were made.
“Both the ST14 and the 1-37 are very fine wines from a great vintage,” she states.
Surveyor Thomson 2014 ‘Rows 1-37’ has been launched through Berry Bros & Rudd in Hong Kong, where Chan and Hall-Jones are based, and comes with a recommended retail price around £50.
The ST 2014 will be released subsequently in 2018.
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