Saint Clair Pioneer Block 14 Pinot Noir 2015

'What you saying? Your back's bent, your knees are nuked and you keep getting up to visit the loo in the dead of night? Well you can take that whingeing to your GP, but my name is Doctor Feelgood and I know what you need! And believe me, daddio, what you need is to fix yourself to this big-scented Pinot Noir, from deep down in Doctor's Creek, Marlborough.

It perks you right up of red fruits, blackcurrants and spice and which has a finish that'll still be there after the last of your hair has gone grey, you with me? It don't have none of that 'proven medical value' stuff, but it'll remind you that there's a lot of beauty going down on this big old ball of rock and that's all you need, maaan'.

Saint Clair Family Estate is owned by Neal and Judy Ibbotson, who have been growing grapes in Marlborough since 1978. Having originally supplied grapes to local wineries, the estate produced its first wines in 1994, all of which won awards. They named their winery after a former owner of their farmland, James Sinclair, an energetic Scottish immigrant businessman viewed as the founder of Blenheim. He was also a prime mover in the establishment of Marlborough as a separate province from Nelson.

Saint Clair grows a number of varietals in six different vineyard sites. A grading system was introduced in 2001 to monitor quality levels in each site, and to ensure grapes are planted only where they are suited to the terroir. As a consequence vineyard practices are constantly being revised and updated to ensure the highest quality at all times. A state of the art winery has been built equidistant from each vineyard.

This wine is named after the Doctor's Creek, which runs through Saint Clair's Pioneer Block vineyard. Fruit from the Doctor's Creek area gives fragrance, and a small amount of fruit from the low-yielding Ure Valley brings complexity and concentration of fruit flavours. The fruit was harvested having reached full physiological ripeness, and was held cold for five days before fermentation to help with extraction of flavour and colour. Primary fermentation was carried using selected yeasts, the must being hand plunged up to six times daily. It was then pressed to tank and racked off its gross lees, 36% of it going into the new French oak, the remainder into older, seasoned 225 litre oak barriques. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in oak, and was tested regularly during maturation until it had achieved the correct balance (about ten months).

The wine is bright ruby red with a delicate aromatic spectrum of red fruits, blackcurrants and spice. A full and rounded palate oozes bright, juicy fruits set off by an ideal balance of acidity and light oak tannin, all combining to a rich and lingering finish.