Winemaker Notes
A great match for duck, salmon, venison and beef fillet.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright, vibrant nose here with a wealth of mixed ripe berries and plenty of fresh fragrances, too. There are also poached, pepper-dusted raspberries, which make this mouth-wateringly fresh. The palate has bright and crunchy mid-palate appeal with a handy tannin surge that builds savory grip through the finish. Very attractive wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale to medium ruby with a hint of purple, the 2012 Peregrine Pinot Noir offers tons of expressive red cherry and warm cranberry notes with hints of wild thyme, lavender, black soil and moss. Light to medium-bodied and finely crafted in the mouth, it gives just enough fruit for the grainy textured, solid foundation, finishing with very good persistence.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is textbook Central Otago Pinot, from the nuances of wild thyme to the bold cherry fruit and mouthwatering finish. This medium-bodied wine is structured enough to last several years, but soft enough to drink now.
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.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.