Pinot Noir 2022
“Offering lovely poise and elegance, the wine shows sweet berry, thyme, dried mushroom and roasted nut aromas on the nose, followed by a finely expressed palate displaying rounded mouthfeel backed by layers of polished tannins. It's charming and pleasing with a lengthy savoury finish. At its best: now to 2029. 91/100”
Sam Kim. Wine Orbit. Nov 2023
2022 was an interesting Marlborough vintage with better yields than the previous vintage and generally good weather throughout the season, although things did cool down for the two weeks prior to harvest. Fortunately, the grapes were already sufficiently ripe and had attained an impressive flavour profile before the late season slow down. The Pinot Noir grapes were harvested in good condition on 16 March 2022.
We use several different Pinot clones to give our Pinots extra complexity, namely clones UDC5, 114, 115, 667 and 777. The oldest of these vines are now 30 years old, some of the oldest in Marlborough. The bunches were destemmed and the fruit was cold soaked for up to five days, before being hand plunged in open-top fermenters. It spent almost 11 months in French oak barrels, 30% new, and was bottled on 17 February 2023.
An attractive, almost translucent, pinot colour of medium ruby, velvet and carmine, it has an enticing nose of raspberries, red berries, cherries, herbs, spices and lovely florals, violets and red roses. It is already gaining subtle savoury characters. On the palate it is instantly appealing with hidden power belying its youthful colour. It is beautifully clean, pure and rich; a complex wine with elegant oak and great depth. It is fresh and vibrant with attractive vanilla hints, great mouth-feel, savoury complexity, fine grained tannins and great acid balance. It finishes long and lingering, with a silky, sensuous, pure after-taste. The lasting impression is of spice, clean ripe red fruits and complex savoury hints.
It is already approachable but will gain even greater complexity and nuance as it ages. We expect this to be a long-lived wine, well worth cellaring.
Technical notes
Alcohol: 13.65% Acidity: 5.9 PH: 3.83 Residual Sugar: 0.0.
Reviews
Offering lovely poise and elegance, the wine shows sweet berry, thyme, dried mushroom and roasted nut aromas on the nose, followed by a finely expressed palate displaying rounded mouthfeel backed by layers of polished tannins. It's charming and pleasing with a lengthy savoury finish. At its best: now to 2029.
91/100
Sam Kim. Wine Orbit. Nov 2023