Winemaker Notes
Notes of strawberry, blueberry and white truffle. Undeniable depth of flavor that is exciting and vibrant.
Pairs well with pan seared and roasted duck leg, fresh pasta and sautéed mushroom risotto.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has hit an impressive trajectory with very well-curated, fresh blueberry, red-cherry and black-cherry aromas, swathed in sweet baking spices and fresh-tilled earth. The palate has sleekly defined tannins, carrying intense, ripe blueberry and red-cherry flavors, amid deeply buried spice. Impressive, this is the finest Aroha to date. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is not a timid wine. It's rich and round, wearing its brambly, medicinal, earthy, spicy and floral colors loud and proud. The silky mouthfeel is tugged into place by sappy tannins. There's intensity, balance and structure, and a real sense of place. Drink now.
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.