Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Alongside bright cherry notes, there is a compelling core of minerality that sits effortlessly on the palate. Pure, evocative Pinot character that is enticing and rich. Floral and earthy finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2014 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir delivers quality for the money. The wine offers delicate red fruit flavors of strawberries, a touch of violets, and dried herbs. The wine's elegance makes it a beautiful choice with grilled loin lamb chops. Drinks well now. ((Tasted: October 21, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
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Tasting Panel
Scholar-Entrepreneurs David and Leigh Teece have just built one of the South Island’s newest wineries. Cherry fruit, spicy and savory with balance, crisp style, bright and balanced.
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.”
On the central eastern coast of the South Island, Canterbury includes a collection of small and varied subregions. The region is cool and dry with low rainfall and light, infertile soils. Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are well-suited here, with Pinot Gris coming in third place.