Winemaker Notes
Deep burgundy with a purple hue. An abundance of complexity comes through in this vintage. Lavender, grated truffle and sautéed chanterelle mushrooms. The velvet-like tannins define this wine and speak to an incredible vintage and site. The fruit spectrum is red to dark, with blueberry and wild strawberry notes tempered by the earthy, savory tones. Truly a beautiful wine.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Utterly likable with a perfume you could fall headfirst into, there’s succulent purple fruit, blueberry jam and vanilla bean aromas with a soft underbelly of spice. The silky, juicy palate has a stony mineral nuance, underpinned by spicy tannins. Absolutely smashable now, this could also cellar until 2030.
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James Suckling
Lots of wild strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant, clove, dried spices and lemon zest. Silky, spicy and sophisticated with sleek tannins and a medium body. Pretty and polished.
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.