Winemaker Notes
Enticing lifted floral notes with blue and red fruits, hints of pepper spice and orange zest accompany the characteristic wet stone and mineral elements from this vineyard. Supple and seamless with lovely palate length and structural tannins framing the wine.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
This vibrant red offers an energetic mix of black cherry, blueberry preserves, chai tea, black pepper and dried rose petal, with a whiff of hinoki incense. The plump tannins are stretched across the firm structure, creating a velvety impression on the long finish.
-
James Suckling
Baked strawberries, pomelo zest and potpourri with underlying sweet spices of red licorice and ground cloves. Medium-bodied, finely-grained silky tannins with refreshing acidity. A hint of tomato leaf notes at the end. Zesty and flavorsome. From organically grown grapes.
-
Jasper Morris
An enticing aroma of dark fruit; cherry and plum, then liquorice and wood spice. A little bottle development with mushroom and forest floor peeping in. Intensely fruited, with a polished, powdery texture and sappy crisp acidity. A bold wine with plenty of charm and presence.
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.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.