NZ Pinot Noir

A steep vineyard in Omihi that was established in 1999 has now been renamed as Damsteep (aptly enough) and is home to the grapes that find their way into this pretty aromatic Pinot Noir with its smooth and savoury flavours of fruity red berries, wrapped in firmly structured earthy notes and a lingering, silky finish. This is a great drink now from a very good vintage for quality and it will age well for up to five years, possibly longer. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulphur.

This is Chard Farm's Cromwell 'village' pinot noir made from their Estate Vineyards in the Cromwell Basin; Lowburn, Gibbston and Parkburn.

WINEMAKERS COMMENTS
Expressive, complex bouquet with sweet floral notes, coupled with swirls of ripe cherry, plum fruits and aromatic spice. Ample freshness and velvety tannins lead to a palate that is elegant, satisfying and highly drinkable.

If dark and broody with loads of black cherry and dried herb aromas sounds like a wine you'd love to drink, buy this beautiful Pinot Noir from the Inlet Vineyard in Bannockburn, Central Otago. 

This 5.25 hectare site is situated 225 to 245 metres above sea level where the grapes' growing season is extended thanks to the elevation, which provides cool nights as a foil to the hot days here. 

Flavours of structured dark fruit combine with firm tannins and a long life ahead.

The wine was aged in French oak and bottled unfined.

From Forager wines owned by Dom Maxwell (winemaker at Greystone) comes its little siter wine Little Forager. This is 100% Pinot Noir sourced from three different sites made up of river gravels, silt loam and chalky limestone and fermented naturally with indigenous yeasts, 20% whole bunch and natural MLF.

The result is textural and generous with sweet fruit in an elegant style.

Intensely perfumed with lifted savoury notes interlaced with dark cherries, plum and cracked pepper. The tannins are soft and silky, layered with plush, ripe red fruits.

In Essential Awatere fashion the finish is lively, crisp and lingering.

A delicious wine that brings together ?new world? fruit and ?old world? elegance and minerality.

In a valley forged by fault lines, carved by winds, drenched by sun and cooled by the Pacific Ocean, our wines are the essence of the Awatere. 

The Awatere Valley is windy, dry, stony and harsh, with hot days and cold nights that create extraordinary wines. Those extremes are heightened at the exposed Breloft Vineyard, where vines teeter at the edge of the Awatere River, buffeted by winds from the nearby Pacific Ocean. 

They dig their roots deep through rocky soils to survive, and produce wines of elegance, with a minerality and crisp clean acidity that are unique to our sliver of land in the heart of the Awatere Valley.

Sarah-Kate and Dan Dineen are partners in wine and in life and dab hands at producing powerful Pinot Noirs in Central Otago. This one comes from grapes grown on two of Maude's vineyards, Sitting Bull and Queensberry. It's a medium bodied Pinot Noir, dry, earthy and with refreshing red fruit forward flavours.

It drinks beautifully now and can age for a further six to seven years. One of our favourites.

Rippon Vineyard is one of the first in Central Otago and remains the most beautiful in this southernmost wine region on Earth. It was originally planted by Rolfe and Lois Mills at Roy's Bay on Lake Wanaka on a north facing slope with gravel and schist soils and with a wide range of experimental grape varieties. These included, most famously, Pinot Noir, which continues to grow on this site and goes into this smooth, dry, complex wine. 

The winemaker today is the son of the founders, Nick Mills, who continues to refine all aspects of winemaking here and has also spearheaded biodynamic farming of the land. This and all Rippon wines are biodynamically certified. 

Central Otago Pinot Noir is one of New Zealand's great wine success stories, especially when it comes from the sun drenched rocky soils of Bannockburn, one of the great sub regions of this majestic area. 

The Mysterious Diggings Vineyard in Bannockburn is on the site of a former gold mine and is a dry, fruit driven and smooth Central Otago Pinot with an accessible price.

?A translucent garnet hue with aromas of wild strawberry, pomegranate and pomelo laced with wild thyme, cedar, and gunflint. This unique bouquet is followed on the palate with cardamom, allspice, damson plum, strawberry, and tart cherry. The wine is lithe and agile with fine tannins and incredible persistence, finishing with distinctive salinity. Intense fragrance, unique savoury undertones, and electric energy are the hallmarks of Valli Waitaki Pinot Noir and the 2022 vintage delivers this in a balletic way.  Mesmerising at release, this wine will continue to develop for at 15+ year? Jen Parr - September 2023

The four Valli Pinot Noirs

The four sub regions that winemaker Grant Taylor makes Pinot Noir from each year encompass widely varying landscapes, soil types and climates from the maritime influenced weather in the Waitaki Valley Vineyard on the ironically named Grant's Road; a site that Grant Taylor owns, through to the semi continental climates of Gibbston, Bannockburn and Bendigo. 

Bendigo

Valli Bendigo Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown on the Chinaman's Terrace Vineyard in Bendigo, Central Otago. This elevated vineyard was planted in 2005 between 314 metres and 374 metres above sea level with five different Pinot Noir clones; Abel, 115, UCD5, 667 and 777. The soils are shallow sandy loams with a high clay content and also include a small lower section with gravel soils.  Bendigo has a semi continental, arid climate. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Bannockburn

Valli Bannockburn Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on the Hall Vineyard, which was planted in 2000 in Bannockburn at 350 metres above sea level. This area has a semi continental climate. It is planted with six different clones of Pinot Noir; namely, 777, 115, 10/5, UCD5, 113 and 13. The soils here are wind blown loess over schist bedrock. They are deep, moderately sandy and free draining. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Gibbston Valley

Valli Gibbston Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on the Gibbston Highway, which were planted between 1999 and 2000 at between 343 and 351 metres above sea level. The Pinot Noir clones on this site are 777, 115, UCD5 and 114. Soils are alluvial loess which ranges from 0.5 to 1 metre deep over firm river gravels.

Rainfall is lower here than in Bannockburn and Bendigo. The climate is considered semi continental. The vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Waitaki Valley

Valli Waitaki Pinot Noir is made with grapes grown on Grant's Road in the Waitaki Valley, a maritime influenced climate planted between 2004 and 2005 at 200 metres above sea level on limestone based soils. River gravels also make up some of the soil type here and vines are cane pruned and grow on a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis.

Located on the north facing slopes of the Brancott Valley, Clayvin Vineyard takes its unique name from the clay based soil profile that lies beneath the vineyard. The complex clay profile varies across the vineyard, allowing a number of different varieties to be grown, including Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The clay soil gives our Clayvin Pinot Noirs richness and generosity and an immediately appealing soft texture.

High density planting allows for very low yields per vine. Low yielding vines tend to produce wines of great concentration and richness.

This vineyard consistently produces grapes of outstanding quality.

The name Opawa means smoky river in Maori and this lovely light to medium bodied Pinot Noir is named after the old Opawa River. Flavours of earthy smokey notes are supported by fresh wild red berry aromas of strawberries, raspberries and plums. Supple silky acidity adds length to every tasty sip.  

Winemaker Clive Jones makes this wine was made from a range of vineyards in Marlborough. The grapes are cold soaked and fermented with indigenous yeast with the wine being pressed into French oak barriques for maturation, before being clarified and bottled.

Smooth earthy flavours intermingle with dark cherry flavours in this new Pinot Noir which is made with grapes grown on a well established, older vineyard site which has a new lease of life, in the centre of Martinborough. The 3.5 hectare vineyard was established by the Brodies who sold it to Eva and Ross Mackay in 2018. The new name is Dublin Street Wines, the first vintage being from the high quality 2019 vintage followed by the great 2020 one. Both years were beautifully high quality ones for wine with dry settled weather, which produced great quality grapes that translated into very good wines. 

The vineyard is entirely devoted to Pinot Noir and planted with five different clonal variations (114, 115, 667, 777 and 5). 

The aim of the game now is to reduce oak use in the wines, replacing it with whole bunch and wild yeast fermentations; two winemaking tools that can accentuate structure and savoury flavour aspects, without dominating. 

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."

This exciting Alexandra Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown on warm, north facing slopes across the Clutha River from Alexandra township on Earnscleugh Road on a site that was known for the early establishment of grape vines in the 1870s during the goldrush. It's the area of Central Otago that most attracted the shareholders, a group of friends who collectively own the vineyard and Grasshopper Rock wine brand.

Pinot Noir is the only wine they produce and theirs has a history of exceptionally elegant aging, thanks to its high acidity (a direct expression of the cool climate here) and its savoury, earthy flavours as it develops in the bottle.

This wine drinks beautifully now and has a long life ahead, for those with willpower.