Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Distinctly spicy, with sarsaparilla, clove and cedar notes that mingle with dense blackberry and blueberry flavors. The tannins are firm, the acidity fresh. Details of sandalwood and cigar box linger on the finish.
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James Suckling
The boldness of Bendigo is on full show. This wine delivers a dark hued and dark fruited style with earthy notes and powdered chocolate. Arrives on thicker tannins with rich bold flavors in the dark cherry and chocolate zone. Drink now
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Wine Enthusiast
This is rich and concentrated, thanks to its relatively warm spot in Central Otago. Slightly earthy at first, this quickly transforms with air into brooding notes of black cherries, blackberries, vanilla cola and some stalkiness, along with a warming cedar spice from the oak influence. The medium- to full-bodied palate is packed with plush fruit, dried green herbs, tight-grained tannins and tart red cherry. The oak creeps up again on the finish but should settle with time.
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.