Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2020 Pinot Noir Earth Smoke is a massively different wine from its stablemate Angel Flower, giving a more expansive wine that blossoms in the mouth without any sense of weight. There's elegance and sense of precision. And do you know what? It feels special. If I were tasting blind, aromatically, I'd think it were a cool climate Syrah with sandalwood, fennel, agave and white pepper characters in abundance alongside pure cherry fruit. The finish is fresh and precise.
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James Suckling
Rosehips, wild strawberries, rosemary, oyster shells, peppercorns, violets and thyme on the nose. Wonderfully fragrant and expressive, with tight tannins and vibrant acidity. Delicious peppery, lightly stemmy notes. Lots of tension. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Earth Smoke Pinot Noir leads with pomegranate molasses, cherry pip, red apple skins and dried herbs. In the mouth, the wine is pure and red fruited, shaped by fine, silty tannins. A gamey finish brings savory inflections of roasted meats and coffee grounds. It’s distinctly Pyramid Valley. Biodynamically farmed.
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.