Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
150286 2012 Carrick UNRAVELLED PINOT NOIR Organic Vineyard (CENTRAL OTAGO) 91 POINTS, WILFRED WONG. (Tasted: January 12, 2015, San Francisco, CA USA) A wine for real Pinot Noir lovers, the 2012 Carrick Unravelled shows the wild side of the varietal and is absolutely made to go with food. Pair with an herb-crusted crown roast of lamb. Bright ruby, garnet color; youthful in the nose, a bit unruly; medium bodied, good layers on the palate; dry, active acidity, dry, medium bodied, good balance; black earth and red fruit in the flavors; medium finish, active aftertaste. [TECHNICAL: 14.0% alcohol, 3.65 pH] [Steve Green, founder, owner and manager of Carrick; Blair Deaker, Viticulturist; Francis Hutt, Winemaker] [Vineyards certified fully organic (New Zealand Sustainable Winegrowing, Biogro Certified Organic] [COOL FACTOIDS: Name Carrick derived from the mountain range which dominates the western skyline; logo is the knot- the Carrick knot, tying together winemaking and viticulture, land and wine] Produced and Bottled by: Carrick Wines, Cairnmuir Road, Bannockburn, New Zealand Imported by: Pacific Prime Wines, LLC, Oakland, CA A wine for real Pinot Noir lovers, the 2012 Carrick Unravelled shows the wild side of the varietal and is absolutely made to go with food. Pair with an herb-crusted crown roast of lamb. Bright ruby, garnet color; youthful in the nose, a bit unruly; medium bodied, good layers on the palate; dry, active acidity, dry, medium bodied, good balance; black earth and red fruit in the flavors; medium finish, active aftertaste. (Tasted: January 12, 2015, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine & Spirits
Oak dominates this wine’s floral tension, but the clean finish suggests giving it some air. After a day, the wine is poised and elegant, a dark red pinot noir that lasts on foresty cool scents of fruit, earth and flowers. For the cellar.
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.