Winemaker Notes
This wine shows black currant, ripe red plum fruit and spicy aromatics following through to a rich plush but elegantly textured mouthfeel with great density, persistence and poise.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Beautifully balanced flagship release, made from a selection of fruit from all four estate vineyards. Ripe and richly perfumed, with red cherries and a whiff of violet, followed by fresh blackcurrants, lush mulberry and raspberry, a sprinkle of dried thyme and a little roasted almond.
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James Suckling
Crunchy and vibrant fruits of red cherries and raspberries followed by potpourri, blanched almonds and a hint of crushed cherry tomatoes. Medium-bodied, refreshing acidity and firm tannins. Vibrant and fragrant wine with a zesty finish. From organically grown grapes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir is fleshy and open in the mouth, with red cherry and star anise, hints of clove and dried thyme, red apple skins and a hint of green olive tapenade. It is finely structured and laced with fine acidity that weaves and courses through the paddocks like water tumbling down a mountain stream. It's structured, long and lovely.
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.