Winemaker Notes
This wine was grown on the Cleland Vineyard Cambridge Road, Martinborough from 29 year old vines. A combination of deep alluvial gravels which the Martinborough Terraces are renowned for and a blend of Clones UCD 5, 6 and 13 always rewards us with savoury, complex, spicy wine.
This is an outstanding example of classic Pinot Noir. It will continue to develop for up to 10 years and will always be a wonderful counterpart to any game food.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A synthesis of white pepper and red cherry with a lovely, salty soy edge. On the palate this is full, fluid and a little edgy – but elegant. It retains a spiciness throughout and does not carry an ounce of fat. The pepper and freshness just linger.
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James Suckling
Earthy, sinewy and savory with a world of spice and fragrant cherry aromas. This has a succulent palate and a wealth of fleshy red cherries and plums with wild herbs and an almost bracken edge. The palate has lithe, juicy and assertively tannic drive. Good weight and depth. Acidity is a feature. Sappy, ripe-tannin finish. Drink in 2022.
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Wine Spectator
White pepper, sage and forest floor notes upfront lead to vibrant cherry and wild strawberry flavors on a crisp frame, with touches of sarsaparilla and tomato leaf lingering on the finish. The tannins are firm but polished. Drink now through 2028.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even more savory and earthy than the other Escarpment wines, the 2016 Kiwa Pinot Noir hints at mushrooms and leather, while the fruit remains in the background. It's medium-bodied but without the concentration and ripeness I expect to find in these wines. It's still an attractive wine with silky tannins and a lingering finish, just somewhat outside the norm at this address.
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.