Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dried-strawberry, citrus, cream and crushed-stone aromas follow through to a full body with firm, chewy tannins that are tight and long. Reserved at the end. Pure fruit, but shy. Drink after 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
From 30-year-old, close planted vineyards in the Martinborough Terraces, Te Rehua is a spicy and highly aromatic wine. Vibrant red berries, cinnamon, white pepper, florals and a mushroomy, umami note burst from the glass. The palate is elegantly framed, and the juicy fruit reigns, even amid structured, savory tannins. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
Robust and concentrated, with a core of fleshy cherry, plum and pomegranate flavors that show red licorice and sweet paprika notes, with dried violet, fresh earth and dried herbal accents. The generous flavors are supported by muscular tannins and a long finish, where notes of chai tea linger. Drink now through 2036. 75 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The perfumed, floral 2019 Te Rehua Pinot Noir features scents of rose petals, red raspberries and tea leaves. Medium to full-bodied, it's wiry on the palate, with ample concentration and firm tannins, accentuated by bright acids. The finish ends up being taut and slightly astringent, in need of cellaring to reach its best.
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.