Poached pear, ginger, white peach and jasmine florals, a generous, luscious palate intwined with a mineral zest that draws the wine together with precision. A dry style, but with plenty of interest. The 2022 Ostler Pinot Gris was fermented half in stainless steel to retain purity and aromatics, the remaining was fermented in oak barrels, 12% being new, with extended lees stirring to provide complexity, richness and texture on the palate.

2020 was a stunning season, warm & dry with just the right amount of heat when needed in the middle of flowering mid-December, giving the views energy to set small, intensely flavoured berries. Each clone used, contributes its own personality to the final wine with the plush UCD6, 667 & 777 clones offsetting the more structural 115 & Abel. By keeping the ferments separate in barrel right through maturation we were able to follow the evolution of the wine. Using only Burgundian coopers 228L barrique & keeping the new barrel proportion closer to 20%. The colour is a satisfyingly deep ruby/magenta with garnet hues, ideal for a fine young Pinot. The aromas are distinctly ripe and obviously Clos Ostler - red & dark currants, raspberries, cherries and a touch of damson plum. The spice from the ripe seeds is intoxicating giving a delicious brown baking spice aroma of clove, nutmeg & anise. All this is accented by the most delicate yet intense dark liquorice French oak. The palate is immensely satisfying with a delicious sweet ripe fruit entry that builds in intensity as it is warmed in the mouth. Layers of fruit sit beautifully poised with more of those red & dark fruits sitting in the mid-palate without being heavy or clunky. Powdery & silky tannins provide the perfect foil for richness of the fruit & gentle acidity holds the wine together. It is a classic Caroline’s in a similar mold to the 2010 & 2016.

At bottling the wine is a lovely bright ruby, garnet colour with striking purple hues at the rim. Aromatically the wine shows all the hallmarks of a classic Caroline’s Pinot Noir. An amalgam of red & dark fruits, exotic oriental spice – clove, nutmeg, anise and an alluring earthy note akin to moss flowing over river stones. In the mouth it shows vibrant primary fruit notes of cherry, raspberry and a satisfying cranberry like acid crunch. The tannins are fresh, supple & supporting providing structure to the long, lingering finish. This is a finer boned version of Caroline’s in the vein of our ‘13 & ’15 rather than the more muscular ‘09, ‘10 or ’16 wines. As usual we suggest decanting as the wine was neither fined nor filtered.