Winemaker Notes
Aromatically very expressive, complete and alluring: florals, black cherry, spice and undergrowth are all present. The palate is so harmonised and integrated that it’s difficult to discern individual characters – a hallmark of a real classic. Finely woven tannins build and coat the mouth for a masterclass in texture. Vibrant fruit and acidity allow the finish to crescendo and take an eternity to gracefully fade.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A tangy and fresh pinot with strawberry, orange peel and light cedar aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with fine linear tannins that are long and polished. Energetic finish. Racy. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
his is one of the most gorgeous bottlings of FR Pinot this reviewer has tasted in recent years. Ethereal, aromatic and complete, it threads together notes of fresh berries, violet, rose petal, earthy spice and a stony minerality. Tannins are Nebbiolo-like in their texture, power and downright sexiness, intricately woven into the wine. Drinking beautifully now, it has the capacity to hold for another decade, at least.
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Wine Spectator
Plush, showing off a seamless, harmonious quality to the silky pomegranate, black cherry and cranberry flavors, with loamy forrest floor, cedar and cardamom seed notes that linger on the finish. Drink now through 2031.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Block 5 Pinot Noir is rich and savory, with dark, intense fruit and firm tannins. The wine lingers long after it is gone, and it seems due to the tannic structure that the fruit endures through it all. This Pinot has freshness and detail, albeit on a darker spectrum this season. It is elegant and firm, with clove, fennel and aniseed through the finish. 14.5% alcohol.
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.