The Akitu winery, based in New Zealand’s Central Otago, is delighted to announce the launch of a third wine in their range this summer, the Akitu Pinot Noir Blanc.

This is the first time the estate has produced a white wine since it was founded back in 2003 by owner, Andrew Donaldson commented “The Akitu Pinot Noir Blanc become an obvious addition to our range, showcasing the exceptional style of wines we can produce from the great Pinot Noir grape. With this wine, taste buds meet the naked expression of the heartbreak grape, the purest example of the vineyard and the vintage that we can imagine.”

Akitu has been making a name for itself as one of Central Otago’s top Pinot Noir producers since the release of the first vintage  in 2012. With 12ha of Pinot Noir located in the world’s southernmost grape growing region, Akitu is situated in the Wanaka sub-region on 250-million-year old schist rock and soils. This really is an example of viticulture on the very edge, the extreme location of the vineyard makes these wines marginal and edgy, subtle yet confident, contemporary and cool.

Made from 100% Pinot Noir, the grapes undergo cold pressing immediately after picking which minimises both colour pick-up and phenolic extraction from the skins. As the wine spends no time on the skins it is technically a white wine rather than a Rosé, despite its delicate pink hue. The wine itself is delicious and refreshing, with refined aromas of light berry sorbet and subtle dried herb notes. On the palate, the wine has great texture and depth of flavour leading to a refined and focused finish. A lacy acidity provides structure and persistence.