Winemaker Notes
Crimson and pink flashes on a red plum canvas. Saturating aromatics of currant pastries, wood spices, and manuka leaf. With time, subtle notes of forest undergrowth and floral perfumes reveal. Moderate fruit sweetness, fine silky tannin and restrained volume allow savory elements to splice evenly into the tart red berry fruit core. This wine was crafted in vineyard and winery from a wild and unpredictable season, so we find great joy in the level of calm and poise it possesses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a delightfully open and expressive wine you could smell all day. From the glass billow fresh picked cherries, pomegranate seeds, ground white pepper and cinnamon bark. In the mouth the fruit is lively and mouthwatering, its wings pinned by fine, spicy tannins. Light to medium in weight, it closes long and juicy-fruited. A deliciously nuanced drop from an exciting South Island region that's crying out for roast duck.
Editor's Choice
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.