Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Bright cherry juiciness on the nose comes with notes of crushed red and black berries, followed by toast and pepper. The palate redoubles on this spiciness and comes with firm but fine tannins that makes this come across as muscular and bold. This needs bottle age. The first release of this vineyard and the wine spent 13 months in French oak of which a quarter was new.
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James Suckling
A dense and centrally focused red with a solid core of fruit with a ripeness and intensity. Lots of fruit. Round and polished tannins and a flavorful finish. Juicy and flavorful. Yet closes up at the end, A new single vineyard pinot from here. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification.
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.