2024 Prophet's Rock Sophora Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Perfumed and welcoming nose of raspberries and red cherries, with notes of rose, tea and warm spice. The red fruits flow through to the palate that features blood orange like freshness and delicate spice. Fine tannins support the wine on the elegant and lingering finish.

More about this wine

The Sophora Pinot Noir showcases Prophet’s Rock’s Kopuwai Delta Vineyard in the Pisa subregion of Central Otago. It is a warm and protected site at 225m elevation and overlooks the Mata Au/Clutha River at the delta where it runs into Lake Dunstan, between the Pisa and Bendigo mountain ranges and lies at. The low vigour, free-draining, fine schist-based soils here are a mixture of loess, alluvium, quartz and rounded river stones.

The 2024 season run warm and dry but finished with mild temperatures that ensured long and even ripening, allowing vineyards the flexibility to pick on preferred flavour and ripeness. The grapes held good acidity, and the resulting wines have a great balance of freshness along with ripe flavours and good structure.

The handpicked fruit was destemmed and fermented using indigenous yeasts and low extraction, with the small open top fermenters hand-plunged only once during fermentation. The wine was matured for eleven months in oak barrel of which 20% were new and bottled under a Diam closure.

About Prophet’s Rock

Prophet’s Rock was established in the late 1990s and pays homage in its name to a 19th-century gold prospector, capturing the spirit of exploration and discovery.

Winemaker Paul Pujol joined Prophet’s Rock in 2005 and has been instrumental in shaping the approach that is grounded in respect for the natural characteristics of the vineyards and gentle handling of fruit, with minimal intervention at the winery. His CV impresses with experience and knowledge accumulated at the likes of Kuentz-Bas in Alsace, and Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé in Bourgogne.