Saint Clair Vicar's Choice Pinot Noir 2008
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
An ideal wine with red meat, pasta or fish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Vicar's Choice Pinot Noir displays red currant and raspberry on the nose, with good definition. Wild strawberry and crisp red cherry on the palate with very fine tannins, nice weight and poise on the feminine finish. Excellent, one of Saint Clair's best 2008s.
Other Vintages
2011-
Wine &
Spirits
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Robert
Parker
Saint Clair Family Estate was founded in 1994 by Marlborough grapegrowing pioneers Neal and Judy Ibbotson, who in 1978 were among the first 10 growers to plant vineyards in the region. Through decades of learning, Saint Clair Family Estate has worked to identify superior Marlborough’s vineyard sites that today produce wines that are consistently awarded worldwide. Today, Neal uses his extensive viticultural expertise with Marlborough’s unique mix of climate and soils in combination with the talent of one of New Zealand’s leading winemaking teams to create acclaimed wines.
The Origin Series Sauvignon Blanc is made primarily from fruit grown in a specific sub-region of Marlborough’s lower Wairau Valley known as Dillons Point. Located near the mouth of the Wairau River as it empties into Marlborough Sound, the vineyard sites have deep, free-draining soils with layers of mineral salts, giving the wine its hint of salinity.
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.