Commercial description

Single-vineyard, premium Pinot Noir.  

A wine whose character has intrigued us throughout its development.  Flavours flowed and receded throughout ferment.  Texture shifting from weighty to silky.  It was deceptive, multifaceted.  Not to be taken at face value.  This is a princess in overalls.  A poet painting fences.

Lit with a pure bright brilliance in colour. Classic Wairarapa expression - complex savoury flavours on a silky bed of pert & poised acidity & complementary tannins.

For us, flavours evoked include dark cherry, vanilla & mushroom.  There's a sense of black liquorice strap & dark cocoa too.  Whatever you find, very confident you will agree this is sensuous, balanced & complex wine.  Sophisticated & powerful. Worthy of your time.  Will cellar well.

Hand-harvested by neighbours & friends.

Bold, spicy and beautiful Pinot Noir from the deep south made by Matt Connell and Dom and Ally Mondillo, who founded Mondillo Wines. The couple were the first people to plant grapes in Bendigo, one of the most arid, dry sub regions in Central Otago, the world's southernmost wine region. Bendigo is often the first area in the wider region to harvest grapes each year and Dom Mondillo typically ensures that his grapes are 100% destemmed before fermentation. 

This wine was aged for 10 months in French oak, 25% new, which flatters its elegant red fruit flavours, providing silky flavours and textures. This wine drinks well now and will benefit from bottle age of at least four to five years.  

The Wrekin Vineyard lies within its own small valley located on the north facing slopes of the Fairhall Valley. It is part of a sub-region of Marlborough known as the Southern Valleys.

This wine showcases the outstanding 2015 growing season for Pinot Noir and is made by Jeremy Hyland (vigneron) and winemaker H?tsch Kalberer.

Red and dark berries intertwine with maraschino cherries and the more savoury tones of Mediterranean herbs. The tannins are soft and integrated, an Iron fist in a silk glove.

Akitu A1 has all the bells and whistles of great Pinot Noir with seductive red floral and fruity aromas leading into a full bodied, silky and structured wine with 40% whole bunch fermentation and five different clones of Pinot Noir adding complexity. The dominant clone in the blend is Abel (a clone is a variation of a grape variety), which lends this Pinot its impressive structure and a silky mouthfeel. It goes without saying that it takes a warm year and ripe grapes to include a high proportion of whole bunches in the fermentation tank, stalks and all. This wine benefits from its high portion of whole bunches and is possibly the best A1 from Akitu yet. A modest 20% new French oak was used to mature the wine. This lends it weight, smoothness and a soft mouthfeel while allowing the fruit to remain in second place after the charry complexity.

The home of Akitu 

Andrew Donaldson planted his vineyard with 100% Pinot Noir in 2002 and has since developed three distinctive styles of wine from this great red grape variety. Two reds (Akitu A 1 and Akitu A2) lead the production while a Pinot Blanc is now part of the high quality stable of wines from this producer. 

Donaldson employs winemaker P J Charteris to make the wines. 

At Mt Barker, in New Zealand's South Island, in a high glacial valley of sunshine and rain shadow on the edge of the earth, each season leave its own vivid imprint on our vintage.  Extreme temperature variations, alpine air, altitude, adversity... all the wild elements of this exhilarating land combine in a Pinot Noir of great quality from the world's southernmost wine region.

Established in 1864 by Jean Désiré Féraud, Monte Christo is the birthplace of Central Otago wine. Our wines are made with 100% estate-grown fruit sourced from our vineyards across three distinct sub-regions, the Alexandra Basin, Bannockburn and Pisa. Utilising sustainable farming practices and minimal intervention methods in the winery, the outcome is elegant, refined, and impeccably balanced wines epitomising the terroir of Central Otago.

Tasting note With dark plums and spice, this  Pinot Noir has bright acidity and a soft finish.

VINEYARDS 

Vineyard: Catherine’s (39%) Subregion: Pisa Elevation: 240m Clone(s):  115, 5, Abel Soil: Waenga alluvial sand and silt gravels, loam texture and moderately stoney, derived from schist 

Vineyard: Davishon (31%) Subregion:  Alexandra Basin Elevation: 160m Clone(s):  5, 115 Soil: Blackmans alluvial sand and silt gravels derived from schist and sandstone.

Vineyard: Confluence (21%) Subregion: Bannockburn Elevation: 210m Clone(s): 777, 115 Soil: Manuherikia loess deposited silt material overlaying sand and silt alluvial deposits derived from schist

Vineyard: Paris (9%) Subregion: Bannockburn Elevation: 220m Clone(s): 10/5, 115 Soil: Cromwell loess deposited sands derived from schist

WINEMAKING Brix: 23.3 (avg.) Whole Cluster: 6% Total time on skins: 25 days (avg.), including a five-day cold soak Fermentation: Wild yeasts Aging: 10 months in 33% new French oak

Fabulous Pinot Noir with amazing depth of flavour especially at this price; a wine that really puts Marlborough's best foot forward thanks to winemaker Rebecca Salmond, who sources grapes from the region's Southern Valleys. Flavours are of ripe cherry, blackberry and spice lead into a lovely, elegant yet weighty palate with superb fruit ripeness and intensity. This wine will continue to age for two years plus and pairs well with lighter red meat dishes.

Fresh red berry fruits aromas combine with a distinctive dried herb nose, with layers of pot pourri and spice. Chalky tannins and lively acidity entwine around a core of vibrant red fruits. This is a fresh and aromatic wine of elegance and poise.

Fromm -  "A bright and pure Pinot with good fruit weight and sweet spicy undertones. Layered and harmonious with a structural complexity yet offering lovely drink now approach-ability."

A steep vineyard in Omihi that was established in 1999 has now been renamed as Damsteep (aptly enough) and is home to the grapes that find their way into this pretty aromatic Pinot Noir with its smooth and savoury flavours of fruity red berries, wrapped in firmly structured earthy notes and a lingering, silky finish. This is a great drink now from a very good vintage for quality and it will age well for up to five years, possibly longer. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulphur.

Here is a Pinot Noir that shows how good Marlborough Pinot can be. Smooth with a hint of spice here and a touch of dark red cherry flavour there, this is complex and delicious. It drinks well now and can also age for a further three to four years.

Clos Henri began 22 years ago in Marlborough when the French Bourgeois family expanded their winemaking from the heart of Sancerre in the tiny village of Chavignol to Blenheim, in 2001. Now that their vines are 22 years of age , the family feels that they are only now starting to reflect and express the taste of the land. This family retains their land and winemaking in Chavignol where they have made wine for 11 generations.

A deliciously fragrant Marlborough pinot ? juicy blackberries, blueberries and the sweet aroma of homemade strawberry jam, intermingled with more savoury suggestions of black olives, cedar and a hint of lavender. Its ethereal but finely structured palate has concentrated varietal character that combines red and black fruit with earthy, smoky nuances.

Stunning Pinot Noir from Waitaki Valley in North Otago, New Zealand.

Tasting Note: Intense aromas of blueberries, cherry and spices. Floral, herbal and forest floor notes bring complexity and elegance. The tannins are firm yet fresh makingfor real elegance.

Taka K is the brainchild of Japanese born, North Canterbury based winemaker Takahiro Koyama, who has launched this fabulous new expression of Pinot Noir from the windy climate of Canterbury. Hot days, cool nights and thoughtful winemaking combine in this wine which has a medium body and intense flavours of smoked mushrooms, wild earth and a hint of thyme beautifully intermingled with red cherry aromas and dense plummy softness. 

Like diving into a velvet cushion in the glass. Need we say more.

The grapes in this wine were grown on an organically farmed vineyard on the eastern side of the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The vineyard has clay rich soil with a limestone influence and is undergoing transition to become certified organic. All grapes were fermented in open top fermenters with wild yeasts followed by ageing in French Oak barrels (no new oak) for about 10 months, then racked and blended into stainless steel tanks prior to the bottling without any fining or filtration.

The total production was 560 cases.

Winemaker Rudi Bauer uses winemaking techniques very much in keeping with the practices of the Old World, with an obvious nod to Pinot's spiritual home in Burgundy.

The results are a deep, warm wine with inviting perfumed ripe pinot aromatics, both stylish and emotional. The palate is vibrant and lively with great body and spicy minerality that holds defined tannins of Bendigo intensity.