Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An attractive, fresh and alluring pinot noir that has plenty of forthright ripe cherry and plum fruit aromas and flavors. Assertive but charming on the palate. Neat wine. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Tasting Panel
One of New Zealand's consistently excellent producers. Mellow with juicy, ripe cherry notes; fresh, zesty, and long.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and distinctive, with a muscular tannic backbone that adds some appealing tension to the dark spiced plum and tobacco notes. An edge of acidity keeps the flavors energetic and lively. Drink now through 2023.
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.”
Part of the Wairarapa region in the southern end of the country’s North Island, Martinborough is a bucolic appellation full of artisan, lifestyle wine producers. Above all else, their goals are to tend vineyards for low yields and create wines of supreme quality. Pinot noir is the main grape variety here, occupying over half of the land under vine.
Comparing topography, climate and soils, the region is nearly identical to Marlborough except that it produces top quality reds on the regular.