Winemaker Notes
Blackberry, dark plum and spicy wild herb aromatics lead to an elegant, mineral derived palate showing great texture, poise and drive.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is intensely flavorful and aromatic with a wealth of rosemary, grilled herbs, ash, cherries, mulberries, cumin and tapenade. Medium-bodied with very fine tannins. Deliciously savory and saline with forest floor notes coming through on a long and transparent finish.
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Decanter
From the north-facing terraces at the western end of Felton Road, Bannockburn. Along with dried red cherries and cooked strawberries, there are subtle, exotic notes of rose petals and Turkish delight. This is a savoury, spicy Pinot. Tannins are evident but supple. Wood spice on the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 The Fusilier Pinot Noir leads with an overtly bunchy nose, peppered with Campari spice, star anise, orange peel, quince paste, kirsch and pink peppercorns. In the mouth, the wine is stalky and febrile, with a spacious mid-palate layered with cherries and redcurrants and even a hint of goji berry. This seems to me to be built for the future; the whole bunch will integrate and bring us an elevated, elegant drinking experience. Wait for some of those primary fruit characters to move to truffle/mushroom/undergrowth/bone broth inflections, and the bunch will be justified. For now, patience. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Rating: 91+
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.