Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The sweet and fragrant spices and perfumed pinot noir fruits, a hallmark of this vineyard, are alluring and the depth that follows makes for an engaging, convincing pinot noir. The palate has succulent, attractive bright red cherry fruit aromas and the palate has a very focused, powerful yet elegant feel, and a feathery and ethereal finish.
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Wine Spectator
Dusty white pepper and rose petal notes are aromatic, leaping out of the glass to complement the dense core of mineral-laced dark fruit flavors, with plenty of anise and nutmeg details. The intensity gains momentum on the finish, which is expressive and generous. Drink now through 2027.
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.