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Escarpment Pinot Noir highlights Martinborough's unique terroir and winemaking philosophy, soundly revealed in this blend of Pinot Noir parcels from across this beautifully well-suited cool climate district.
The 2022 Escarpment Martinborough Pinot Noir is an assemblage of the best Pinot Noir vineyards across the district, with 75% of the grapes from the Te Muna Road sub region. The fruit was hand harvested and crushed to open top fermenters, with minimal intervention until it was pressed. Plunged just once a day for gentle extraction and then left to macerate on skins for an average vat time of 25 days. It has been aged in French oak barriques (27% new) for 11 months followed by a further 9 months in stainless steel tanks before bottling without fining or filtration.
A savoury expression of Pinot Noir showcasing fresh earth, spice, orange rind and bay leaves. The wine expresses the elegance of the 2022 vintage with a palate that is bright and juicy.
From an exceptional single site on Te Muna Road, the estate grown Pahi Vineyard is an individual site selection Pinot Noir sourced from designated rows on the famed Martinborough Terrace.
94 Points – James Suckling review
So floral, with cranberry and orange peel aromas that follow through to a medium body with sliced orange and peach flavours. Crunchy and delicious. So fresh and yummy. Some whole bunch fermentation.
94 Points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Medium-full red with purple rim and reserved, shy aromas in the earthy/forest undergrowth and walnut spectrum. A patina of smoky oak too. The wine is rich and full in the mouth, with volume and amplitude. A deep and fleshy wine with loads of extract to match the intense flavours and big structure. Long, long finish. Serious pinot: long-term potential but also really appealing right now. It could cope with heartier meat dishes.
95 Points Cameron Douglas MS
This wine delivers complexity, a sense of site and vintage as well as complexity and power. Aromas and flavours of spiced berries, plum and barrel; polished tannins and acidity framing the texture of this wine with flavours of plum and red berries, cherry and rose that follow. There’s a fine chalk dust residue on the finish that delivers more mouthfeel and carries extra flavour. A delicious wine. I enjoyed a glass of this with a smoke salmon and red beet risotto with lashing of parmesan cheese - a wonderful match. Best from late 2027 through 2034.
"Pahi has a long track record and is arguably the most impressive Pinot Noir in the Escarpment stable today." Joelle Thomson, 2023
Barrel fermented, dry style of Pinot Blanc which is aged for 11 months. What more could you ask for in an alternative white wine from Te Muna Road in Martinborough? Winemaker Larry McKenna models this Pinot Blanc on the great dry whites of Germany's Kaiserstuhl district where spicy wines are made to complement rich food.
This wine is made from vines planted in 1999 on Te Muna Road in Martinborough. It's bone dry with less than one gram of residual sugar and the finished wine spent 11 months aging in barrel prior to bottling. It can age for up to five years and drinks well now too.
This barrel fermented Pinot Gris is a great alternative to Chardonnay, which was inspired by the classical French approach to Pinot Gris, using lees stirring and partial malolactic fermentation to add texture, weight and dryness to burn.
This wine is made from 100% Martinborough grapes, all grown on Te Muna Road, 9 kilometres east of the township on a vineyard first planted in 1999.
Winemaker Larry McKenna recommends cellaring it for up to five years - or enjoy right now.
Inspired by the elegant dry pink wines of Provence in southern Franc, this rose is made in Martinborough from one of New Zealand's top Pinot Noir producers, the Escarpment Vineyard. It is dry with summer berry aromas and a lively lingering finish.
A textural style Sauvignon that is layered and complex, with a racy mineral backbone, thanks to the alluvial gravels of the Martinborough terrace and the unique growing conditions of Martinborough.
W I N E M A K E R S N O T E
From the exceptional 2024 vintage this is our first release of Sauvignon Blanc under the Escarpment label. Fermentation was conducted in a range of stainless-steel tanks, along with 20% in French Oak puncheons, 2% of the blend in new oak and a small portion fermented on skins. A mix of indigenous and inoculated yeast were used. Aged for 6 months before bottling. This is a Sauvignon that showcases sophistication and texture, along with a limey/mineral backbone that gives great length and purity, and a moreish finish that will have you reaching for another glass.
T A S T I N G
Gooseberry, nettle and guava are accompanied by lifted white floral notes, with the fruit sitting in the tropical spectrum. The palate is hinged together by textural elements that are balanced by restrained, but intense, fruit weight. There is a lovely seam of limey acidity that brings drive and offers a long lingering finish to the wine. It showcases the minerality and purity we get in white wines grown on the alluvial gravels.
Larry McKenna loves a Chardonnay made in a fresh, crisp style with creamy texture but balanced by bright acidity, a medium to full body and a long finish. So, if big buttery Chardonnays are your thing, this wine will meet your hopes in a textural fashion. Which is another way of saying, try this great white made in a fresh style.
It's made from grapes grown on Te Muna Road, Martinborough, which were planted in 1999. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation with lees stirring to enhance texture and it aged for 11 months in French oak, 20% of it new.
Red, purple hue. The nose has fragrant characters of Bright blackberry and plum with floral undertones. Beautifully balanced by savoury oak notes, with tobacco and cracked pepper. The palate is refined and tight, with real texture. Fruits form early but the wine is carried by a lovely savoury tone and whole bunch structure and tannins. The wine has the classic gladstone salinity running through it.
13.5% Alc | 750ml
Tasting Note
Red cherry, plum and a hint of dried herbs open the nose in a delightfully fragrant manner. The aromatics deftly define the knife edge ripeness that’s critical for great Pinot Noir; dialled in with ease in the exceptional 2024 vintage. Cardamom, mace and cranberry make an appearance, followed by a finely poised mouthfeel. The silky tannins are luscious and sweet, providing backbone and length. A typically expressive Cornish Point.
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. This wine is from Cornish Point vineyard where the close proximity to Lake Dunstan (surrounded on three sides) creates a unique mesoclimate. Fine loess and silt soils overlie alluvial gravels interspersed with calcareous seams. 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. Pinot Noir was harvested from 19 March to 9 April.
Vinification The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, with 25% retained as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins has extracted good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. This wine was aged for 13 months in 20% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers. In accordance with our noninterventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was fermented with indigenous yeast and malolactic, and was not fined or filtered.
Hailing from the biogro certified Grava vineyard in Martinborough, it’s an electric expression of place.
Elegant and poised with earthy undertones and mineral flecked complexity.
This Pinot Noir is from block with clay soil, which is planted in 2003. This wine shows full of charming red to dark fruits. A very charming wine to go with food.
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."
The Equilibrium Pinot Noir is 100% grown Wairarapa Pinot Noir from Te Muna Valley in Martinborough
In classic Te Muna fashion, this is all about notes of dark cherry, plum, blackberry, violet and rose, followed by spices, chocolate and vanilla, with well-integrated young tannins and a long, persistent finish.
Top value from North Canterbury, one of the great Pinot Noir regions of New Zealand thanks to its dry hot summers and long autumns, which allow the flavour development of ripe black cherry aromas and deep earthy notes, which make this incredibly affordable Pinot so inspiring.
Dry, savoury and earthy style of Pinot Noir with delicacy and power from grapes grown on Craggy Range's windswept and beautiful Te Muna Road vineyard, 9 kilometres east of the Martinborough village.
Hand picked grapes from the Te Muna Vineyard were fermented in a combination of French oak cuves and open top stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts. The finished wine was matured in French oak barriques, 22% new, for 10 months. No fining but a coarse filtration results in a satisfyingly savoury dry Pinot with tension and backbone. A stunner now and for the cellar.
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.
We think these wines offer exceptionally good value for money and this Marlborough Pinot Noir offers a super tasty expression of Pinot with notes of complex earthy flavours as well as appealing red fruit and the balance of crisp acidity providing a lingering finish.
The name Kōparepare is Maori for gift and $1 from every bottle of wine is donated to LegaSea, a not for profit organisation set up by the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council in 2012 to raise awareness of the marine environment and inspire public support.
The wines are made by Whitehaven in Marlborough, which was founded by Greg and Sue White in 1994 after they sailed into the Marlborough Sounds to shelter from a storm in the early 1990s and fell for the natural beauty of the region and the haven it provided.
Fruit aromas of blackcurrant, dark cherries and plums unfold from the glass, combined with hints of dried herbs. The palate is very complex and enticing with a beautiful, smooth texture and a firm structure. Flavours of very ripe fruit, minerals, subtle leafiness and rosewood. The supporting role of the oak intensifies underlying dark chocolate and toasty characters.
You could say this is the ultimate insider's wine. It's a new brand made by highly experienced Marlborough winemaker William Hoare, who was the original winemaker and then GM at Fromm. Novum is his new brand. It is named after the Roman word 'novum', meaning new. The grapes are from Dog Point's Settlement Vineyard, which is certified organic. It's tight, youthful, medium bodied, silky in texture and will age superbly.
Small but beautifully formed Pinot Noir from Central Otago with delicate red fruit flavours supported by structured notes of spice and firm cedary aromas on the long finish.
This is drinking beautifully with silky mouthfeel and ripe red cherry fruit as well as dark plum flavours; a gorgeous wine with earthy depths of flavour. Stunning new release from the Huntress, winemaker Jannine Rickards, who uses 40% whole bunch ferment in her Pinot Noir - a winemaking method that enhances structure and adds grapevine tannin to wine rather than relying on oak for weight in the wine. This is the fourth vintage of Huntress Pinot and is made from On Giant's Shoulders Vineyard; it's a blend of four different clones of Pinot Noir; 10/5, Abel, 828 and clone 5.
Delicious, made in small volumes, get in quick.
Tasting Note: Deep and complex bouquet of red cherry and sweet raspberry, pomegranate and hints of fresh zesty blood orange. Full-bodied yet extremely elegant, fine-grained but present tannins, minerally, youthful acidity and hints of Five Spice and a deep core of cool, vibrant fruit, lovely length, and persistence. Cellar 12 to 18 years.
Winemaking Notes: Harvested 9th April 2016, bottled 15th February 2018. Hand-picked and carefully selected 100% Abel Clone Pinot Noir grapes. All de-stemmed, cold-macerated and fermented in small batch stainless steel vats and left on grape skins for 4 weeks. Aged in 100% new French oak barriques of the Bourgogne Tonnelleries Rousseau, Remond and Meyrieux for 20 months. No fining and only light filtration before bottling.
“With a slew of red-berry and spicy nuances, this is a super-elegant pinot noir with very fine tannins that are now almost perfectly resolved. Extremely long, polished and mineral finish of the kind you expect from Grand Cru red Burgundy with some age. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.” – James Suckling, January 2022
“Plenty of spiciness to the hibiscus, ripe-cherry, strawberry, oyster, mushroom and earth aromas. Smoky, too. Full and dense. Then it changes to dried cherries with some citrus, closing up nicely with freshness and intensity. Needs time to open. First bottling of this. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Better after 2024.” – James Suckling, October 2022
Certification: Organic
Alcohol: 14.0%
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Wairarapa, New Zealand
The Explorer wine showcases vibrant aromatics with a bouquet of fresh dried herbs, spicy blackcurrant, and redcurrant notes. Its focused, elegant palate delivers a harmonious balance of fruit weight, structure, and texture, providing a satisfying combination of strength, freshness, and poise. Certified organic, this wine is crafted with care, ensuring a natural expression of its origins. Grape 100% Pinot Noir
A full bodied, savoury Pinot Noir with appealing layers of red fruit flavours, which drinks well now and can age superbly for the next four to five years. This is smooth, savoury and complex in flavour with layers of red fruit, tangy freshness from bold acidity that is held in balance by weight and texture.