Nautilus’ Awatere River vineyard is a small, terraced site approximately 25 kilometres upstream on the north bank of the Awatere River and Pinot was planted there in 1999. Nineteen years on, those vines are turning out super-concentrated fruit that just dances into the bottle. Silky and seductive, there’s a sniff of toast from 11 months maturation in 33% new French oak barriques, yet the fruit is still very much the hero. Smooth and showing finely structured tannins, it’s drinking nicely indeed.
