Whitecliff Winemaker's Selection Pinot Noir 2019
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Savoury notes of mushroom, dried herbs and forest floor are complimented by aromas of cherry and strawberry. The palate is rich and supple offering velvety tannins, raspberry and a gamey complexity that leads to a light acid freshness.
Pair this wine alongisde risotto and antipasto meat platter.
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Wine Enthusiast
Give this some good swirls in the glass or decanter for the reductive funk to blow off. When it does, ripe, almost candied cherry and raspberry fruit emerges, along with a floral nuance, like roses and their stems, licorice and something a touch meaty. The palate is where most of the interest lies. Open, bright and juicy fruited, it tingles with acidity, tempered by textural tannins. There's length, verve and complexity.
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.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.