Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aged one-third in new oak for 12 months, the 2008 Pinot Noir has brambly dark fruit on the nose with notes of wild hedgerow, a touch of strawberry, crushed stone all with fine definition, yet demonstrating a sense of restraint. The palate is medium-bodied with dark berry fruit, dark cherry, apricot and Chinese 5-spice. Good acidity, spicy towards the finish with moderate length, this is a Pinot with good 'stuffing' and it should age well over 5-8 years. Drink 2011-2018.
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.”
Part of the Wairarapa region in the southern end of the country’s North Island, Martinborough is a bucolic appellation full of artisan, lifestyle wine producers. Above all else, their goals are to tend vineyards for low yields and create wines of supreme quality. Pinot noir is the main grape variety here, occupying over half of the land under vine.
Comparing topography, climate and soils, the region is nearly identical to Marlborough except that it produces top quality reds on the regular.