NZ Pinot Noir

Greystone is one of North Canterbury's wine stars situated on the slopes of limestone rich hills in Omihi. All of the grapes that go into Greystone wines are 100% certified organic with BioGro NZ and all are estate grown. No additional fruit is purchased to supplement production, which is one of many incremental steps that go into Greystone's high quality wines. 

This impressive Pinot Noir is the top of the Pinot tree at Greystone. It's made from fully destemmed whole berries which were cold macerated and fermented with wild yeasts, 25% of the wine having been fermented in small tanks amongst the vines, which ensures a completely wild vineyard yeast fermentation. The wine is bottled without fining, filtration or cold stabilisation.

It drinks well now but will reward those with patience to wait for it to develop further with age and has the potential to evolve positively for up to a decade, if kept in good conditions. 

Certified organic with BioGro NZ.

About Greystone

The Greystone wine story began in 2000 when the Thomas Family bought an old sheep farm on the Omihi hills in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The rolling limestone hills lured this family in and their goal was a single minded one: to make great wines from the limestone rich soils here. Fast forward 20 years and Greystone is one of the great (and, some might say, yet to be fully discovered) wineries in this outstanding wine region. Not least due to the work of winemaker Dom Maxwell and general manager Nick Gill, who began working together in 2005 and has grown along with the brand and quality. 

Pinot Noir is the jewel in the crown of the evocatively named Mount Beautiful Wines and this producer makes several different styles.

This is the signature wine, made in the highest volumes and from a very different vintage; 2018, which was warmer, more humid and earlier than any other year on record with hand harvesting of the grapes starting 10 days earlier than usual on 21 March. For the 2018 vintage, 100% of the grapes were destemmed and the wine was gently plunged twice daily. This PInot Noir was aged in French oak, 20% new, for 11 months.

It's a ripe, fruit driven Pinot Noir with earthy flavours and represents great value for money.

There are three single vineyard Pinot Noirs in the Mount Edward stable, including this outstanding full bodied example which is made from grapes grown on the upper terraces of the Pisa sub region. These grapes are always the first to be harvested and Pisa Terrace Pinot Noir is a wine of perfume and aromatics, a lifted wine, light in feel and weight, elegant with a purity of fruit.

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.

A unique parcel within Rippon, Emma?s Block faces eastward on the lakefront where ancient clay reefs run laterally through fine schist gravels. Emma?s Block is named after the great-great-great grandmother of the current generation of the Mills family, through whom the name entered into the family.

Cellaring is recommended. This wine will age gracefully for 10+ years.

This Pinot Noir is one of our favourites and comes from Wellington's closest wine region, the Wairarapa; Gladstone, to be precise, where winemaker Karl Johner has what you might call a foot in both camps. The German born winemaker produces wine at his winery in Gladstone in the New Zealand summer. In our winter, he hot foots it back to Germany to work harvest at his winery there.

The wines from both places are classic, elegant expressions of aromatic grape varieties; high points are Pinot Noir, Riesling and Pinot Gris; made in a range of styles.

This Pinot Noir is a dry, medium bodied, earthy and smooth. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. This wine ticks the vegan friendly box.

The Te Rehua Pinot Noir is a unique single vineyard, that brings a richer fruit profile and more robust styled Pinot Noir whilst highlighting the dense tannin structure from Martinborough.

Winemaker's notes

This wine was grown on the Barton Vineyard, Huangarua Road, Martinborough from vines planted in the 1990?s. A combination of deep alluvial gravels from the Martinborough Terraces and an assemblage of many clones to produce a classic example of New Zealand Pinot Noir. Hand harvested fruit was open top fermented using indigenous yeasts in a traditional wooden cuvee. It was hand plunged once a day, with a total vat time of 22 days. After pressing it was matured in 37% new French oak barriques for 20 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, promoting soft mouth feel and texture.  

Tasting

A unique block on Martinborough?s free-draining alluvial gravels closer to the township. Grown on a warm site, that leads to ripe tannin whilst keeping alcohols balanced. This block tends to reward a darker fruit profile, notes of black cherry, plum and spice along with more classical notes of forest floor and licorice. The hallmark of this block is the dense structure and firm tannins that sit upfront on the palate balancing a core of dense black fruits. The inclusion of stems helps to give the wine an aromatic lift and focus. It will continue to develop for up to 15 years and compliment roast meats, game and charcuterie. Serve at 16?C.

Fruit from an established vineyard, grown on the famous alluvial terrace - a quintessentially Martinborough Pinot Noir, with classic savoury characters, lifted spice and supple tannin.

Winemaker's notes

The Kiwa vineyard, in the township of Martinborough is one of the mature plots planted in the district. A combination of deep alluvial gravels for which the Martinborough Terraces are renowned. A combination of Clones UCD 5 and 6 rewards us with a complex and spicy wine.  The fruit was destemmed to an open top fermenter with the inclusion of some whole bunch. It was fermented using indigenous yeast and hand plunged just once a day for soft extraction, with a total vat time of 25 days. After pressing it was matured in 35% new French oak barriques for 20 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, promoting textured mouth feel and balanced fruit complexities.

Tasting

The Kiwa vineyard tends to exhibit complex savoury notes, of bay laurel, green tea and Chinese five spice. These are underpinned by an array of red fruits such as raspberry, sour red cherry and red currant, that sit amidst lifted and floral perfumed notes. The savoury complexity continues through the palate, with a wine that offers both grace and presence. It is bright and expressive with incredible buoyancy, thanks to the taut focus and firm tannins. This helps to tighten the structure giving one confidence to cellar for at least 10 years. Serve at 16?C and match with any game food.

Exceptional North Canterbury Pinot Noir made in small volumes from the evocatively named isolated hill vineyard in Waiau. Spicy aromas and structured tannins lead into a full body wine made using indigenous yeast fermentation and spending 26 days on skins with ageing for 15 months in French oak.

This wine comes from winemaker Dom Maxwell, the talented winemaker at Greystone. Forager is his own personal winemaking project. 

The Taylor Pass Pinot Noir fruit is planted on a mixture of soils. Stony soil that contributes fresh floral and red cherry fruit aromas, whereas silty loam soil provides earthy dense tannins and dark berry fruit flavours. The various clones and differing soil types are harvested separately to provide winemakers with as many flavour and texture options to choose from for this single vineyard wine.

The wine showcases an intense bouquet of ripe juicy blackberries and blueberries with hints of baking spices. A harmonious palate delivers some liquorice notes intermingled with black cherries, subtle dried herbs and finishes with round velvety smooth tannins.

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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. 

Providore's new P-Series Pinot Noir is a plush, velvet smooth wine from Central Otago's most planted grape - Pinot Noir. This is top of the range Pinot for drinking now and can age for a further five years, evolving more savoury depth of flavour along the way. 

Neudorf?s Moutere Pinot Noir is an elegant and age-able single vineyard wine. The nose is very fragrant with aromas of cherry, plum and cracked black pepper. The palate is rich yet balanced, with intense red fruit notes and balanced, bright acidity.

Gamey, savoury, deliciously refreshing Pinot Noir from Martinborough's next new big thing - Te Muna Valley, a dramatically majestic sub region for grapes that is situated 9 kilometres east of Martinborough village. 

Big Sky Wines is on the high alluvial terraces of Martinborough's Huangarua River at Te Muna, 9 kilometres east of the village. Low yielding deep gravels, hot days and cool nights result in wines that are deep and complex. This is their flagship wine from a low vigour, low cropping vineyard.  Hand picked, crushed into two tonne open fermenters with 10% whole bunch fermentation and minimal crushing and with wild fermentation followed by 12 months in French oak, 12.5% of which was new. And therein lies the beauty of this insanely delicious Pinot Noir with its ripe berry fruit flavours of dark cherries and plums, balanced by mouth filling savouriness, warm spice, and silky tannins. 

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.