Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A darker expression in 2013, this has deep, spiced complexity, with anise and other woody spices, a fragrant, perfumed lift, dark-purple florals and meaty nuances. There's plenty of depth. The palate has immense dark-fruit presence, with cherry and plum flavors. Tannins are powerfully striking but perfectly cloaked in deep fruit presence. Acidity is wired deep and adds turbo-like power to the finish. Drink in 2019. Range: 96-97
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2013 Pahi Pinot Noir is scented of red and black plums, black cherries and black tea with nuances of mossy tree bark. Medium-bodied, it has a solid backbone of chewy tannins supporting the expressive red and black berry flavors, finishing long and earthy.
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Wine Enthusiast
“Delicate” is how owner-winemaker Larry McKenna describes Pahi, and that seems apt. It's smoky and vaguely herbal, hinting at tomato, then offers cherry fruit and soft, gentle tea-like tannins that turn silky on the finish. Drink now–2021.
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.