Winemaker Notes
In its youthful stage, the nose is bursting with aromas of black cherry, florals and spicy leather notes. Expect this to evolve and develop complexity in the usual Block 5 manner with time in bottle. The 2021 Pinot Noirs delight in their finesse and poise: not heavy or cloying like some other vintages, and as we have seen before, the Block 5 naturally luxuriates in these finer and elegant years. The detail and depth are palpable; the finish is refined and sustained; its unmistakably Block 5.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Crushed berry, Ceylon tea leaves and white pepper make for a brooding and alluring nose. The palate takes up this aromatic theme, enabled by a very fine, clear streak of bright acidity. A frame of graceful, firm tannin lends structure to this elegant wine. Really poised, long and aromatic. Matured in just 25% of new French oak for 16 months.
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James Suckling
The brightness and clarity of fruit is something else with hibiscus, ripe strawberries, raspberries, and slate follow through to a full body, with a tight and structured intensity at the finish. Solid tannins give it a tightness at the end. Needs four or five years to open.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Block 5 Pinot Noir is seductively floral, with a powerful undertow of fruit and tannin on the palate. The wine isn't in possession of the same cool-vintage nettles/chamomile/white flowers that abounds in the 2020 tasted alongside, yet here there is a cool succulence that is undeniably attractive. It's amazing how these wines evolve and change over the years. This is, like the other vintages of the Block 5 Pinot Noir, driven by a powerful thrust of tannic horsepower. 14% alcohol.
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Wine Spectator
Packs a bunch of power and precision on a delicate frame, with notes of fresh rose petals, lavender and cinnamon mingling with cherry compote, raspberry and cranberry. Reveals additional details of sandalwood, Earl Grey tea and forest floor that linger effortlessly on the finish.
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.