Winemaker Notes
Bright deep garnet in color with aromas of ripe dark and red cherry, brambly fruits, spice and leather, with a hint of smoky oak. A full-bodied wine with round, mouth-filling flavours of plum, brambly fruit, dark cherry and a hint of savoury herbs. The oak integrates nicely with the fruit and the silky and linear tannin structure.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Juicy blackberry, blueberry and wild strawberry flavors are plump and ripe in this red, which offers notes of nutmeg, clove and cardamom, along with touches of black pepper and forest floor that linger on the long, plush finish. Drink now. 700 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Marlborough Pinot Noir is a silky, supple little thing, with red apple skins, strawberry, red cherry and hints of exotic spice (sumac, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.) on the palate. The finish is firm and a little chewy (not a pejorative comment), but what this offers is classy and complete.
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.