Giesen Clayvin Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
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Journal
The Somm -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Cooler temperatures during flowering meant reduced berry size and bunch weight. Smaller berries ensure intense, concentrated flavors. The cool start was followed by very warm, dry conditions which remained through to harvest across Marlborough. These conditions ensured great depth of flavor, superb texture and balanced acidity and sugar levels.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This wine is in a savory place with earth and mushroom notes, as well as dried brown spices, laid across dried red cherries, leaves and flowers. Complex nose. The palate has plenty of firm tannin, tailored around pure red-cherry flavors. Very composed and sturdy. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
From the most prized vineyard of this large Marlborough estate, this is a solid, likable example of Pinot from this famed region. The nose is a sweet-savory combo of plump red berries, violets and peppery, earthy spice, with more umami-like notes of hoisin sauce and mushrooms. The mouthfeel is soft yet structured, the teeter totter of fruit and savory interrupted by fresh acidity and silky fine tannins, with a savory tinge to the finish. Drink now–2029.
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Tasting Panel
Scents of wet leaves, cherry, and cinnamon become broad and juicy on the palate. Against a backdrop of perky acidity, cinnamon joins forces with clove and sassafras as wild strawberry surrounds a sweet yet slightly savory core of earth. The finish is dusky and floral.
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The Somm Journal
Scents of wet leaves, cherry, and cinnamon become broad and juicy on the palate. Against a backdrop of perky acidity, cinnamon joins forces with clove and sassafras as wild strawberry surrounds a sweet yet slightly savory core of earth. The finish is dusky and floral.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from one of Marlborough's best-known vineyards, Giesen's 2016 Single Vineyard Selection Clayvin Pinot Noir offers maturing notes of cedar, cola and black cherries tinged with leather and allspice. Smooth, silky and medium-bodied, it's ready to drink now and over the next few years, although it lacks the drama and concentration of the best vintages.
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From the Estate Range to the Single Vineyard Series, Giesen delivers stylish wines that showcase the riches of Marlborough.
Proudly family-owned by three brothers Theo, Alex and Marcel since 1981. Originally from Germany, today the Giesen brothers are the proprietors of 13 vineyards located throughout the highly sought after Wairau Valley, a subregion of Marlborough. The vineyards spread across the length & breadth of the valley giving a range of grape growing conditions and flavor. 20% of Giesen vineyards are certified organic or in transition.
The Giesens are the leading buyers of German 1,000 liter Fuder barrels in New Zealand. The Fuders are coveted in winemaking for the lees influence (due to large dimension across the bottom of the barrel) as well as the lighter oak toasting – which provides an aromatic sweetness. Giesen is known and respected for showcasing Marborough’s unique vineyard and vintage characteristics and to delivering superb vine-to-bottle quality across the range
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.