Dry, dark and full bodied fleshy black plum flavours with a beautiful silky textured mouthfeel. This single vineyard Pinot Noir is made from  hand picked grapes grown on the Wrekin Vineyard in the Southern Valleys, Marlborough. Most of the grapes were destemmed with a small portion of 15% whole bunches to add structure and weight to the wine, which was fermented warm (up to 31 degrees Celcius) then transferred to French oak, 27% new for 10 months of ageing. This wine has hints of smoky flavour with a rich, dense earthy aroma leading into beautiful dark fruit flavours of plums and black cherries.

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

This is our pick of the super tasty bunch of beautifully fragrant, structured, lingeringly flavoursome Corafin Pinot Noirs and is from the Settlement Vineyard, which is situated in the Southern Valleys in Marlborough. It is an outstandingly concentrated, full bodied style of Pinot, proof that this country's biggest wine region is far from a one trick pony - and is also certified organic. 

Amisfield wines began life on the shores of beautiful Lake Hayes, which remains home to this brand's cellar door and restaurant while the majority of grapes grown for these wines are now in the Cromwell Basin, most notably in Pisa which is where the winery production takes place. Ths wine is made from hand harvested grapes, which are treated to a natural ferment (no added yeasts) with approximately 10% whole bunchclusters added and maturation for 15 months in 20% French oak. This Pinot Noir is dry, full bodied and smooth with elegant spicy notes. It drinks well now and can definitely age well for the medium to long term; up to and beyond 10 years.

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.

Appealingly aromatic, this Pinot Noir reveals notes of Morello cherry and bramble ont he nose. On the palate - fine, silky tannins and juicy acidity provide an elegant structure, with complexity coming from gentle toast and woodsmoke characters.

Palliser Estate Pinot Noir is one of our favourites here at Regional, made with hand picked grapes grown on three vineyards in Martinborough - Hua Nui, home block and Pencarrow. Flavours of red fruit, smoky oak, a velvet texture and full body all make this incredibly elegant wine a keeper for up to five years. It also drinks beautifully now with its smooth texture and freshness. 

The grapes were given 5% whole bunch fermentation which adds structure, which is accentuated by French oak aging for 10 months.

Bottled in March 2023.

What the critics say

"Silky, smooth and powerfully elegant Pinot Noir from Palliser Estate."

Joelle Thomson, wine writer and wine programme director for Regional Wines

Viticulture 

Grapes sourced from our own Fromm Vineyard (5.1%), from Churton Vineyard in the Waihopai Valley (18.8%) and from two sites in the Brancott Valley, Yarrum (25.4%) and Wrekin (50.7%). No herbicides, pesticides or systemic fungicides used. Only approved natural fertiliser applied. All vineyards certified organic (BioGro).  

Winemaking 

Hand-picked between March 16th and 31st. 100% destemmed while retaining a high portion of whole berries. Selected parcels from each vineyard were individually fermented on “wild” yeast and vinified into single vineyard wines, providing the blending components for this Cuvée. Average time on skins between 14 and 28 days. Matured for approximately 14 to 18 months in French oak barrels (less than 10% new). 

Wine facts

Grape variety  Pinot Noir

Bottled   March 2022 under cork at FROMM Winery

Labelled and packed at FROMM Winery

Production  7044 bottles and 18 magnums

Cellaring potential 2036

Winemaker  Hätsch Kalberer

Store   10° – 14° Enjoy   16° – 18° 

Wine analysis  Alcohol   13.5%

Total acidity  4.6 g/l pH   3.63

Residual sugar  less than 1 g/l 

Winemaker’s comments - Dense, deep red colour. The nose is concentrated yet fragrant with dark fruit aromas, complex, focused and very expressive. On the palate again concentration without being heavy. An elegant Pinot Noir with beautiful transparency, excellent structure and tension and very fine tannin support in the finish, reflecting one of our most exciting vintages since 2010. 

Food match - Beautiful with venison, wild game, beef, lamb, vegetarian dishes, cheese and charcuterie, chocolate, raspberries and strawberries.

Provenance is the name of the top Pinot Noir from Big Sky, one of the most spectacularly beautiful wineries in Martinborough. This wine is a stunning expression of New Zealand Pinot Noir at its best; savoury, full bodied and over flowing with gorgeous ripe dark fruit flavours underpinned by firm tannins giving the wine structure and a commanding presence in the glass. 

This is a wine to drink now and cellar into the future. 

The Big Sky story

Jeremy Corban and Katherine Jacobs founded Big Sky Wines in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough, in 2005. They have since expanded their small vineyard, which is predominantly planted in Pinot Noir and also has a little Sauvignon Blanc, which they give extra textural complexity to with a little time in old oak on lees. 

Full bodied, dry, dark and delicious, this is one of the most structured Pinot Noirs we have in store here at Regional and if you like Pinots that can last the distance, get in quick because it has a big fan club.. The wine is made entirely from hand picked, estate grown grapes, many grown on their own roots (ungrafted) and all benefiting from a dry, windy region where soils are arid and the result is relatively thick skinned berries when it comes to Pinot Noir. The wine is made by a talented team, headed up by Mat Donaldson, whose family are among the earliest pioneers of modern winemaking in North Canterbury and they have deservedly built up a massive following for their outstanding wines, both red and white.

This Pinot is a keeper. Big, bold, dry and elegant right now, it will also age and evolve positively for up to and beyond a decade in a good wine cellar.

Commercial description

Upon opening a bottle, swirling the wine in a glass, let it breath in wine speak, and you discover welcoming, uplifting aromas of rich black cherry, dark plum and a subtle herbaceous hint of Vipers Bugloss flowers. Those all together evoke instantly a sensory picture of Central Otago.  The pleasant elusive bouquet uncovered intertwines beautifully with some subtle indication of mocha and spice, even a soupçon of wood smoke. The flavours revealed flow harmoniously onto the palate. The wine is richly textured and discloses an exquisite balance created by sensitive tension between refined acidity and velvety tannins. The warm, rich mouthfeel compliments the interaction between all elements and prolongs to a harmonious silky finish.

This wine is made from Mt Maude Vineyard at the base of Mt Maude in Wanaka, a one hectare site planted at 400 metres elevation and where the grapes are grown without irrigation. This family owned site was planted in three Pinot Noir clones 667, 777 and 115. The wine is made without whole clusters in the ferment and with 18 days of maceration by winemakers Sarah Kate and Dan Dineen. 

It tastes silky, structured, sensitively balanced, long and fresh with great depth of secondary savoury earthy spice flavours married with red fruit and complex notes that will definitely develop further over time, evolving positively. All grapes in this wine were hand harvested and the name Kids Block refers to the owners - Dawn and Terry Wilson’s grandchildren. A row of vines was planted for each grandchild, all planted in 2000 and all in different Dijon Pinot Noir clones. 

Tasting Note

Citrus blossom, elderflower and wet stones set the scene for this subtle yet beguiling Chardonnay. Comfortable, at ease with itself, not a single component vying for attention; just the Felton Road style at the fore. Deeply fruited with hazelnut notes through the mid, combined with characteristic fresh acidity, leads to a harmonious and sustained finish. A seamless Bannockburn blend from our Calvert, Cornish Point and The Elms vineyards.

Introduction

Commencing with meticulous site selection and vineyard design in 1991, Felton Road's story is one of refusal to compromise. A strict 100% estate policy with fully organic and biodynamic viticulture (BioGro and Demeter certified) ensures that our fruit arrives at the winery as pure as it can be, while our entire estate comes as close to true sustainability as is possible. The winery is also B Corp certified and a proud member of IWCA (International Wineries for Climate Action). A commitment to hands off winemaking: gravity flow, wild yeasts, wild malo, an avoidance of fining and filtration all help preserve the wine's expression of its terroir. The result is Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which accurately express the authenticity and complexity of our unique vineyards. 

Gareth King; Viticulturist, Blair Walter; Winemaker, Nigel Greening; Vigneron. 

Vineyard & Viticulture

Felton Road farms four properties totalling 34 ha in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago. Chardonnay is mostly grown on the Elms vineyard in Blocks 2, 6, 8 & 9, with approximately 10% coming from each of Cornish Point and Calvert vineyards. There are a range of altitudes and aspects, with the soils mostly deep schist gravels. Meticulous summer management of a single vertical shoot positioned (VSP) canopy ensures even and early fruit maturity. Shoot thinning, shoot positioning, leaf plucking, bunch thinning and harvest are all carried out by hand to ensure optimum quality fruit. Cover crops are planted between rows to assist in vine balance and to improve soil health and general biodiversity.

Vintage

After a wet September, spring commenced with good soil moisture and bud burst occurred at the normal time of early October. Temperatures hovered around average with December being warm and dry, enabling a successful flowering and fruit set. The dry conditions prevailed throughout January and February limiting berry size and setting the scene for fruit with elevated phenolic material and complexity. Judicious use of irrigation was required to maintain sufficient vine health throughout this sustained dry period. Temperatures never spiked and hovered around average enabling a slow and steady path to maturity. A distinctive feature of March 2024 was the cool night temperatures preserving acidity, freshness and precision of fruit character. Chardonnay was harvested from 18-27 March.

Vinification  Various clones of Chardonnay (Mendoza, B95, 548) were carefully hand harvested from Cornish Point, Calvert and The Elms vineyards.  The grapes were whole bunch pressed with the juice flowing to barrel by gravity after overnight settling.  Fermentation in French oak (mostly well-seasoned barrels with just 5% new) with indigenous yeasts has produced a wine with considerable complexity. A long and complete indigenous malolactic fermentation with only periodic stirring of the lees (Batonnage), combined with 11 months on full lees; has softened the acid for a rich and complex mouthfeel.  In accordance with our non-interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was not fined or filtered after spending 13 months total in barrel.

Sam Neill?s latest Pinot Noir is youthful, bright, boldly fruity with firm tannic structure and the ability to age, all of which makes it a good contender for decanting prior to enjoying right now. It?s a complex and interesting Pinot Noir as a blend of Neill?s four small certified organic Central Otago vineyards with 37% from The Fusilier Vineyard in Bannockburn, 7% from the elevated, cool climate of The Last Chance Vineyard in Earnscleugh, Alexandra, 40% from The Red Bank Farm & Vineyard and 22% from The First Paddock in Gibbston. All grapes were hand picked, 54% destemmed and all fermented with wild yeasts. The wine was given 10 months aging in French oak, 18 per cent new. It?s a very good wine and will reward further cellaring.

VINEYARD AND FARMING
Planted in 2002, Doctors Flat is a single 3-hectare vineyard in Bannockburn. The schist subsoil was ground off the Cairnmuir Mountains by glacial ice and deposited here about 480,000 years ago. The glacial action and millennia of weathering have
generated an abundance of clay and fine silt in the vineyard gravel. We know soil texture drives wine texture and this vineyard produces Pinot Noir with density, fine tannin and great texture. We farm organically to help grow and sustain soil biology.
In turn the soil microlife harvest and transport nutrient and minerals to the vine. It’s this connection between vineyard and vine that gives Doctors Flat Pinot Noir its character and sense of place.

WINEMAKING
The winemaking is a simple programme of small open tanks, close attention, minimal inputs and a very light hand in the extraction process with only three punch downs. In 2021 20% of the fruit went directly to tank as whole bunches. Fermentation occurred spontaneously and after 21 to 24 days on skins the wine was drained to French oak barrels (22% new). Malolactic was delayed until spring and SO2 not added until late summer. After a full 12 months in barrel the wine was racked to tank for a second winter, then bottled 20 months after harvest.