Taka K is the brainchild of Japanese born, North Canterbury based winemaker Takahiro Koyama, who has launched this fabulous new expression of Pinot Noir from the windy climate of Canterbury. Hot days, cool nights and thoughtful winemaking combine in this wine which has a medium body and intense flavours of smoked mushrooms, wild earth and a hint of thyme beautifully intermingled with red cherry aromas and dense plummy softness. 

Like diving into a velvet cushion in the glass. Need we say more.

The grapes in this wine were grown on an organically farmed vineyard on the eastern side of the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The vineyard has clay rich soil with a limestone influence and is undergoing transition to become certified organic. All grapes were fermented in open top fermenters with wild yeasts followed by ageing in French Oak barrels (no new oak) for about 10 months, then racked and blended into stainless steel tanks prior to the bottling without any fining or filtration.

The total production was 560 cases.

A silky, elegant, structured and commanding wine, which drinks well now and can age for the medium to long term. The biodynamically farmed Calvert Vineyard is home to both Pinot Noir and a smidgeon of Chardonnay and is situated on Felton Road in Bannockburn, Central Otago. This vineyard lies just below the hills of the Bannockburn gold sluicings and makes beautiful wine, one of Central Otago's most consistently highly rated Pinot Noirs every year with its great fruit purity. approachability and aging potential.

A great investment in your cellar.

A special delicate expression of Pinot Noir made in the vineyard from start to finish; the grapes are fermented entirely in the vineyard in which they were grown. It's been a happy and extremely successful experiment at Greystone Winery, which 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 wine grew from an experiment that first took place in 2012 where wild yeasts were captured in the vineyard and used to ferment a Pinot Noir in the vineyard. It sounds only natural but is in fact highly unusual because grapes tend to be taken to the winery for fermentation. In this case, the winery ferment vessels came to the grapes.

The result is a slower than usual fermentation, due to cooler temperatures, especially at night time. 

This delicate Pinot shines a new light on this noble grape, which tastes silky, vibrant, fresh and delicate with a lingering finish and interesting flavour notes. 

It?s a wine for the cellar ? or a special occasion in your finest glassware now or soon. 

* This wine was one of only two in New Zealand to make it onto the 2020 Top 100 Wine Discoveries by North American wine critic Robert Parker.

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. 

This is an exceptional single vineyard expression of cool climate Pinot Noir with a silky mouthfeel and medium body. It's made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in the windy, cool climate of Marlborough's Awatere Valley where Pinot Noir expresses itself in beautiful red fruit flavours.

Rapaura Springs makes several different single vineyard Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs as part of the winemaking team's continued exploration of site and grape variety. This is an exceptional wine. 

Olearia Pinot Noir is a big wine made on a small scale from Prophet's Rock range of Pinot Noirs and is made from the steepest part of the Rocky Point Vineyard in Bendigo where schist soils dominate the ground and an earthy, dark, weighty wine is the result. Winemaker Paul Pujol wanted to explore this small area of the vineyard to see what style of wine would result from this small parcel of land. 

All grapes in this wine were hand picked, fermented with wild yeasts and the finished wine was aged for 17 months in French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered. Just 321 cases made.

We have five bottles and suggest this is an excellent wine for adding to your cellar or drink now in large glasses, decanted. 

The name comes from the Olearia Lineata, a small dense tree with elegant fine branches and tiny drought? resistant leaves that once carpeted the valley floors of Central Otago. There are large numbers of these officially at risk trees in and around Bendigo, which is home to Prophet's Rock vineyards. 

Complex, dry, savoury and sophisticated Pinot Noir; consistently one of the best from Central Otago. This wine is an outstanding expression of cool climate Pinot and is 100% certified organic made from two vineyards with approximately 75% of the grapes from Pisa with the balance coming from Muirkirk Vineyard on Felton Road in Bannockburn. A star. Drinks well now and is a keeper for at least four to five years, over which time it will evolve into an even more layered wine. 

This wine has aromas of cassis, ripe dark cherries, toasted spices, and savoury notes. The mid-palate shows fruit sweetness, while generous but fine-grained tannins contribute to a lingering elegant finish.

Vineyard 

Nautilus Clay Hills Vineyard is located on the ridge that divides the Brancott and Omaka Valleys within the Southern Valleys sub-region of Marlborough. The vineyard is divided into 6 discrete blocks with different aspects and slopes and an elevation between 100 and 130 m. Normally picked midway through the Pinot Noir harvest window this vineyard has rapidly become the cornerstone block for Nautilus Pinot Noir where the clay-based soils contribute a silken texture and fine-grained tannins. The vines are trained to a VSP trellis system with a mixture of cane and spur pruning, with a target yield of 1.5 - 2.0 kg per vine.

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.

Winemaker's Notes

The Pahi Vineyard is situated on Te Muna Road adjacent to the Escarpment Vineyard. Planted in 2003, the site possesses the same alluvial, free draining gravel soils which has made Martinborough famous. The fruit for this wine was hand-picked over two days with the final wine comprised of clones 114, 115, Cl5 and Abel, giving a diverse array of flavours and a unique expression. The fruit was open top fermented in traditional cuvees, using indigenous yeast and hand plunged just once a day, with a total vat time of 25 days. After pressing it was matured in 25% new French oak barriques for 20 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, promoting soft mouth feel and texture. 

Tasting

This is an outstanding example of classic Martinborough Pinot Noir, that showcases the very best of Te Muna Road. It leaps from the glass with bright red fruits, wild herbs, and gamey notes. It is incredibly lifted and perfumed, underpinned with savoury spice and charcuterie. The palate is medium weight with plush velvet-like plump fruit and a juicy profile. Subtle oak use adds complexity but keeps the focus on the fruit. A fine acid line amongst soft silky tannins completes the finish. It will continue to develop for up to 15 years. Complement to any game meat or roast BBQ duck. Serve at 16°C.

"Pahi has a long track record and is arguably the most impressive Pinot Noir in the Escarpment stable today." Joelle Thomson, 2023

A very special Pinot Noir with layers of complexity, a silky texture and delicate concentrated red fruit, earth and spice flavours. This lovely wine is made in miniscule quantities from this country's smallest wine region, the Waitaki Valley, where the Clos Caroline Vineyard is situated. This stunning vineyard site is walled with (and full of) limestone; that mercurial rock that makes for extremely healthy Pinot Noir vines. 

This wine is a must try for Pinot Noir devotees. 

Luscious, deep-fruit aromas of red cherries and raspberries rise from the glass. The palate is crisply layered and mouth filling with fine tannins. Ripe red fruit obtains complexity from hints of spicy characters, tea leaf and earth. The texture has sophistication and elegance, being sumptuous and refreshing at the same time.

From Quartz Reef?s Bendigo Estate vineyard which is BioGro certified organic and Demeter certified biodynamic. Deep ruby-red in colour exhibiting spiced wild berries. Opulent and rich on the palate with notes of dark cherry, blackberry and liquorice. Silky tannins with a muscular structure and impressive length.

ABOUT THIS WINE: Spicy, dark fruits and with integrated French oak meets ripe plum, balanced smooth tannins and subtle earthy notes. A complex and focused Nelson Pinot Noir.
VINEYARD: Upper Moutere, Nelson , New Zealand. Tarakona (Dragonfly, or Dragon) Block. Planted 2005. 2.0ha. Ancient Moutere alluvium clay soils, featuring deeply weathered and dissected gravels.

WINEMAKING
? grapes were gently hand-harvested, days apart to ensure maximum ripeness and quality
? lightly crushed and destemmed fruit was held in open top vessels for around six days
? the must was slowly warmed and inoculated with specifically selected yeasts, with some left to ferment with ?wild? yeast naturally found on the
grapes.
? warm temperatures fermentation of up to 35C? and an extended maturation period on skins allowed for a gentle extraction of colour and
tannin
? the wine was developed in French oak barriques before secondary malolactic fermentation
? Bottled early March 2020 without fining 4456 bottles produced

VITICULTURE
? unsettled weather over flowering resulting innlower yields overall
? later on the very warm and dry summer months provided ideal growing conditions
? a successful harvest period with grapes picked at optimal ripeness and outstanding flavour profile

TASTING NOTE
? A vibrant ruby red hue in the glass
? dark fruits , integrated French oak, bright floral notes on the nose
? a palate of ripe plum, subtle earthy notes and balanced smooth tannins

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.