New Martinborough Dublin Street Pinot Noir
Posted by Joelle Thomson on
Eva and Ross Mackay own Dublin Street Wines in Martinborough village and have breathed new life into this old vineyard.
Eva and Ross were living in Australia prior to moving to Martinborough in 2019, making their first Pinot Noir in 2019 with a following wine in 2020. These two warm, dry, high quality vintages have been a positive start to their experience in Martinborough and it has been a steep learning curve for the couple, who are both former lawyers.
"We were both looking for something different than a desk job, something that challenged us both in a more physical way outdoors and that's when we found this vineyard," says Eva.
Their 3.5 hectare vineyard site was originally was called Brodie Estate, after its original founders and owners. It is planted entirely in Pinot Noir grapes and has five different clonal variations: clones 5, 114, 115, 667 and 777.
The wines they are making encapsulate the Martinborough Pinot Noir style, which tends to be full bodied, silky, smooth with firm tannins and earthy notes under its dark fruit flavours. Both Eva and Ross are likeminded in their approach to wine and plan to reduce the use of oak in their wines, replacing it with whole bunch and wild yeast fermentations; two winemaking tools that can accentuate structure and savoury flavour aspects, without dominating.