Winemaker Notes
Spice, wild thyme and Cuban coffee bean aromatics give way to gorgeous fully textured mouthfeel showing great tension and drive. The palate is elegant and flavoursome with a long lingering mineral finish showing poise, memory and site.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This parcel from Earnscleugh is always elegant and fragrant and has performed well in 2020. There are light red florals of roses, some violets, wild red cherries, raspberries and a fine, spicy layer, as well as sappy elements. The palate has finely layered tannins that anchor in a central red-cherry core of flavor nicely. Fresh, elegant and drinkable, the flavors accumulate in impressive form, really moreish. Fresh acidity, too. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Spectator
This red balances elegance and power effortlessly, opening with lavender, white truffle and sandalwood aromatics that lead to juicy black cherry and blueberry notes. The flavors gain momentum on the finish, where clove, blood orange, black tea and bittersweet chocolate accents linger on a velvety frame.
-
Wine Enthusiast
This fresh, elegant Otago Pinot from actor Sam Neill and his talented team invokes a bowl of potpourri (think: dried rose petals, orange rind, cranberries, cherries and peppercorn). There's a slight meaty, smoky vibe, too. The palate is elegant, knitted with fine-grained savory, sappy tannins on the light-to-medium weight palate and a crunchy acidity that makes it an easy drop for both cold and warm weather drinking.
-
Decanter
Smoky, toasty oak aromas with perfumed black cherry notes and savoury nuances. Austere, clean and direct on the palate.
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.