Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Strawberries, flint, caramel, minerals and terra-cotta character, as well as fresh tea. Medium-bodied, this has crunchy fruit, crushed flowers and a fine and polished finish. Delicate and delicious with some weight. From organically grown grapes. Old vines planted in 1983.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir leads with black cherry and star anise, strawberry top and a hint of pomegranate molasses. The wine is light and chalky, with attractive clarity in the glass and brilliant length through the finish. There is a dusting of cocoa and licorice at the edges of the aromas. It's a beautiful wine, one that ages slowly and gracefully over the decades. The tannins here are grippy and yet pulverized in structure; they serve to cup and cradle the fruit, never intrude but forever guiding. About 30% whole clusters were used in the ferment.
Rating: 93+
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.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.