Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark chocolate, walnuts, dried flowers, orange peel, and lead pencil. Medium-bodied with firm and racy tannins that give a linear feel and focus to this wine. Compact and polished tannins that run deep into the wine. Solid and curated texture. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Layered with red apple blossom, cherry, strawberry, hints of pomegranate molasses and black tea, the 2021 Pinot Noir is floral and pretty on the nose. In the mouth, the wine is all of these things, lingering through the detailed and finessed finish. The silty tannins speak to the Southern Valleys vineyard from which the fruit is sourced. There is density ensconced with the light framework of the wine. Very good!
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Wine Spectator
Spiced and juicy plum, blueberry and oolong tea elements mingle with black licorice, crushed pine needle and clove notes. Gains momentum and complexity on the long, expressive finish, where a hint of salted toffee lingers. Drink now. 600 cases imported.
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.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.