Valli Waitaki North Otago Pinot Noir 2020

13 August 2022By Yvonne

Valli Waitaki North Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $85 Winemaker Jen Parr has crafted a complex and earthy pinot from fruit grown in one of the most challenging climates in the country. So the grapes that do make it through the extremes of the season are incredibly concentrated and create wines that roar with tamarillo, plum, … Read More

Valli Bendigo Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

13 August 2022By Yvonne

Valli Bendigo Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $75 With aromas that remind me of the lush, leafy, mossy scent of walking through native bush after it’s rained, this pinot is awash with forest floor earthiness, black tea, tamarillo and concentrated cherry characters. Bright, fleshy, energetic and stylishly crafted, it’s delicious in its youth and … Read More

Valli Gibbston Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

12 August 2022By Yvonne

Valli Gibbston Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $75 Glossy and garnet-hued in the glass, it’s bursting with exotic florals, black guava, pepper and red apple notes, while on the palate, it’s energetic yet silky-textured, spice-saturated and and showing incredible grace and poise. It has a seamless structure, soothing, slippery, yet clinging to every cell … Read More

Wairiki Wines The Optimist Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2020

10 August 2022By Yvonne

Wairiki Wines The Optimist Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2020 $25 I’d like to think I’m an optimist, but comparing my annual school photos, you can see me becoming an adult via the gradual draining of emotion in my expression. Thank heaven for the baked strawberry notes, earthy plushness, slightly foxy aromas, tweaks of tamarillo, and … Read More

The Black Grape Society Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019

9 August 2022By Yvonne

The Black Grape Society Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 $29 Paired with: Mushroom And Pumpkin Lasagne in NZ Herald Canvas Magazine August 13 2022 Six months in older oak barrels has given this pinot noir a gentle, smoky tone which wraps around a soft, savoury, mushroomy mid-palate and a backbone of bright berries, wild cherries … Read More

Valli Bannockburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

9 August 2022By Yvonne

Valli Bannockburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $75 You don’t earn Best in Show at the Decanter World Wine Awards and become one of the 50 greatest wines on the planet for being ‘good’. You also don’t earn Gold medals at the London International Wine Challenge, scores of 95/100 from Masters of Wine and … Read More

Porters Estate Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017

7 August 2022By Yvonne

Porters Estate Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017 $45 Winemaker and ferociously competitive lawyer John Porter, has managed to cram a shed tonne of spice-soaked fruit into his wine, and that puts me firmly in my happy place pinot-wise. He doesn’t accept average and neither do you I suspect. Deceptively pale in colour (pinot noir doesn’t need … Read More

Kererū by Porters Martinborough Pinot Noir 2018

7 August 2022By Yvonne

Kererū by Porters Martinborough Pinot Noir 2018 $35 Proprietor John Porter is a hands-on winegrower and winemaker when he’s not at his legal firm in Wellington. He and his wife planted 6.4ha of vines in 1992 and designed their ‘Kererū’ label to accelerate awareness of their native bush restoration initiative. Kererū is the Māori name … Read More

Bald Hills Single Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017

5 August 2022By Yvonne

Bald Hills Single Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $45.99 Five years on from vintage, and this Central Otago star is finally confident enough to start putting its head above the fence to yell, ‘Yoo-hoo, boys!’ With seductive spices on the nose, wild rhubarb and tamarillo notes on the palate, and a warming, savoury, sandy … Read More

McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

4 August 2022By Yvonne

McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $39 Gold Medal – Decanter World Wine Awards Gold Medal & Trophy Winner at International Wine Challenge 2022 Gold Medal & Champion Pinot Noir Trophy NZ International Wine Show If you’re looking for a Central Otago pinot noir with both depth, intensity and also playful perkiness … Read More