Winemaker Notes
The nose has a deep and dark stone fruit note. The palate is a woven series of dark plum and cloves. Nelson Pinot Noir celebrates an underlying umami or savory note and this is no exception. Nothing is out of balance in this bottle...there is ripe fruit, savory notes, a little spice and a lot of moreish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is fresh and lively and has intense red-cherry aromas with dark herbal tones. The palate is deeply flavored with a fresh, crunchy red-cherry core. Neatly proportioned tannins. Good value. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the spicy, savory 2017 Pinot Noir Tom's Block, those elements, plus an earthy edge, push the plum and black-cherry fruit into the background. Yet this is still an immensely enjoyable effort, with a plush, velvety texture on the medium to full-bodied palate. Those ripe tannins provide for an expansive yet defined mouthfeel and a rich, lingering finish.
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Decanter
Nelson isn't as famous as some other regions in New Zealand for Pinot Noir, but Neudorf is a top name there. Owners Tim and Judy Finn have produced a beautiful wine here, great value for a NZ Pinot at this level. It has some age, but the bright red fruit is still there in abundance, with structure and complexity, and some forest floor character behind. The wine has spent 10 months in French oak, 20% new. Aromatic, focused and linear, it's a food-friendly wine that you'll find it hard to resist pouring another glass of.
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.