Winemaker Notes
Red summer fruits, cherries, and sweet spice combine with softly smoky oak in this succulent, approachable wine. Gentle oak tannins and the tasty fruit flavors result in a smooth mouth-filling wine with good length and a softly warming spicy finish.
Pinot Noir is often enjoyed by new Zealanders as a pre-dinner drink on chilly winter evenings. It is always a success with game - try roast venison and black currant jelly. Or for lighter options try with Vietnamese duck salad or salmon gravlax.
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.”
Rolling hills evolve from a scenic coastline to form an ideal setting for Sauvignon Blanc vineyards. Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay rank in after New Zealand’s prized varietal as most widely planted in Nelson. The region is slightly cooler and has more precipitation on average compared to Marlborough.