Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bolder wine that has a little more new oak, some swirling herbs and spices, very complex and concentrated wine here. Bright red cherries, slightly tarry almost, more savory and cryptic with less emphasis on the red fruits. There's a darker cherry thread of fruit, the spices are more evident, the tannins are more legible and they deliver a more succulent, more firmly defined finish. Great depth, balance and smoothly polished texture. Innate balance, effortless and detailed. Very composed. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2014 Block 3 Pinot Noir is fragrantly scented of freshly tilled earth, Ceylon tea, warm cranberries and red currants with a touch of Provence herbs. Medium-bodied and wonderfully elegant in the mouth, it fills the palate with satin textured red berry and earth flavors, finishing with great freshness and length.
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Wine Spectator
Features mineral and black tea nuances to the firm cherry and raspberry flavors, with juicy acidity and a cedary, spicy finish. Shows plenty of intensity on the finish. Drink now.
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.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.