Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A dense multifaceted nose from this quality North Canterbury producer reveals notes of black cherries, peppery herbs, violets, vanilla, warm stones and a slightly meaty funky nuance. Sturdy and relatively thick waisted, the palate is cinched with savory tight-grained tannins and a sweet brambly berry fruit flecked with herbal notes to finish. Drink now through 2026.
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Wine Spectator
Firm and concentrated, with blackberry and blueberry flavors that mingle with muscular tannins, black tea notes and a thread of minerality that adds a savory element. Fresh herb details emerge on the finish. Drink now through 2025.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir is an excellent effort. TASTING NOTES: This wine is flavorful and well balanced. Pair its aromas and flavors of black fruit and earth with grilled hamburgers accented with wild mushrooms. (Tasted: September 18, 2019, San Francisco, CA USA)
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.