Winemaker Notes
The 2016 Nautilus Pinot Noir is dark ruby in color. The nose reveals lifted floral aromas, ripe wild blackberries, cherries and spices. The palate is medium bodied with good structure. Refined and balanced, this elegant wine shows good intensity and a lengthy finish.
Beautiful when accompanied by Venison with Star Anise.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has good depth, handy structure and elegance. Aromas of red cherries and raspberries with hints of wild red flowers, leading to a linear, crunchy palate with handy balance and depth. Some fresh baking spices to close.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is an attractive, multi-faceted Pinot Noir that beautifully balances fruit and funk. Aromas of wet earth and barnyard are quickly followed by bright cherries, raspberries, flowers and herbs. These characters follow through on the palate, wrapped in tight-grained, sandy tannins and a sappy woodiness. Still youthful, you could drink this now with food but it should really blossom over the next eight years. Drink through 2026. Cellar Selection.
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Wine Spectator
Shows purity to the raspberry coulis and maraschino cherry flavors. Accents of spice and herb give this some depth. The plush texture and lingering details add more interest. Drink now through 2034.
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.