Winemaker Notes
Notes of strawberry, cherry, mushroom, baking spices, and clove are lifted from the glass. This leads to powdered white sugar, vanilla, blackberry, and cinnamon notes on the palate with smooth tannins and medium acidity. A long finish persists with caramel red apple, tobacco, and cola qualities.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I find the 2018 Gran Terroir Pinot Noir to be closed, austere and serious. It's very much in line with the 2016, with citrus freshness (think blood oranges) and flavors reminiscent of flowers, herbs and wild berries. I love the austerity here. It's young and takes time to reveal its aromas and personality, which makes me think it's going to develop slowly in bottle.
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Wine Enthusiast
Cherry, plum, latex and spice aromas lead a light but controlled nose. On the palate, this feels medium in weight, with tannins that rub a bit but don’t grind. Cherry, plum, herb and spice flavors don’t change much on a fresh and lasting finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Zorzal Gran Terroir Pinot Noir is alluring, delicious, and smooth. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers pleasing aromas and flavors of black fruit, savory spices, and licorice. Pair it with a flavorful chicken stew. (Tasted: April 11, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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.”
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.