Pinot Noir "Les Oliviers” is less "jammy” than its Californian cousins. It is perhaps more Burgundian and is delicate. It has lovely aromas of violets and shows ripe raspberry characteristics on the palate

Wine maker notes

A small portion of our Pinot Noir crop is harvested quite early and fermented at low temperatures to enhance fruity aromas. The remaining grapes are picked at their optimal sugar and ripeness in order to obtain a full-bodied and complex wine loaded with fruit. The grapes were destemmed and then crushed and fermentation and maceration took place in stainless steel tanks for between three to four weeks. We age about 30% of the wine in new French oak barrels for 3 to 4 months.

Technical notes

Alcohol: 13.5%

Food pairing

It is a gorgeous food wine and works well with roast meats, tuna and cheeses.

Producer

Tortoise Creek is a range of very fine varietal wines from the Languedoc district of the South of France and California. Tortoise Creek was created by a British couple, Mel and Janie Master who lived much of their lives in the wine business in the South of France as well as California. During their time in France, they developed close relationships with many of the top growers and winemakers in the Languedoc and have been producing wines from this area since 1990. The concept with Tortoise Creek was to work more with the individual grower and less with the large cooperatives as they understood that the key to any good wine, whether it is from the Languedoc, California or any other wine region was low yields. With that in mind, Tortoise Creek wines have been selected and blended from growers who understand this philosophy. We work closely with our growers in California and France to hand craft our selections. Tortoise Creek is a partnership between Mel and Janie Master and the national importing company Winesellers Ltd.