Winemaker Notes
As we have come to expect, Cornish Point has a slightly reserved nose as a young wine, with hints of dark fruit, raspberry, roses and crushed herbs. The palate is dense, a core of dark raspberry, then dark petals (rose and violets), and a pleasant waft of char. Serious texture and harmony, opulent yet refined. This is a brooding and powerful rendition from an outstanding vintage.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of smoke, spice, dried flowers, leather and ripe berries follow through to a full-bodied palate. Yet, the tannins are very tight and polished. Fine and poised finish. Fine-tuned pinot. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
This impressive version is intense and velvety, with dried thyme, black cherry and blackberry flavors, with notes of dragonwell green tea, sweet paprika and cardamom adding an aromatic edge on the long, memorable finish. Drink now through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The cedar-accented 2019 Cornish Point Pinot Noir matured 13 months in 30% new French oak, and while there is a woody thumbprint on the nose, the raspberry, black cherry and cola notes bleed through, making an even larger impression. Medium to full-bodied, broad and generous on the palate, this is marked by some dusty (but ripe) tannins, adding richness to the wine's texture in the mouth and on the lingering 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.