Weaver Estate Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

Weaver Estate Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 $36  I am loving this debut pinot from this shiny-new, Alexandra-based family estate.  It is intensely perfumed with cherry, boysenberry, violet, black tea and sandalwood.  Silky and slippery in the mouth, it has delicious, spicy warmth, superb depth and delicious length of flavour.  While there’s a good few [...]

Stoneleigh Latitude Marlborough Pinot Noir 2009

Stoneleigh Latitude Pinot Noir 2009 $34  Spending eight months in French oak barrels (a third of them new) has produced a wine chock-full of youthful fruit sweetness combined with spicy layers of plum, cherry and toast. It’s bright, vibrant and very drinkable, although I’m not sure how this wine will do in the cellar so [...]

Mount Beautiful Cheviot Hills Pinot Noir 2009

I loved the Mount Beautiful 2009 Pinot Noir ($29)  with its aromas of black tea, rosemary, cherry and earthy leaf-litter.  Lush, silky and fresh in the mouth, it is absolutely stunning stuff.

Fancrest Estate Di’s Pinot Noir

Fancrest Estate 2010 Di’s  Pinot Noir ($42) is deeply coloured and perfumed with black tea, and savoury, earthy notes which carry through to the palate.  The tannins have definite grip, and the fruit is ripe and robust enough to indicate great potential in the cellar.  www.fancrest.com

Tukipo River Estate Fat Duck Pinot Noir 2009

Tukipo River Estate Fat Duck Pinot Noir 2009 $48  In a word, jaw-dropping.  Roland Norman has created a wine exotically perfumed with cherrywood smoke, hedgerow fruits, lush, forest leaf litter and japonica.  I love the wild strawberry and rhubarb flavours and its silky, slippery mouthfeel.  It’s an absolutely sensational example and one I desperately wish [...]

Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010

Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010 $40  I was so mesmerised by the sexy red currant, cranberry, tamarillo, sweet rhubarb and spicy, cocoa-edged aromas that I had to remind myself to stop sniffing and actually take a sip.  Thank the lord I did because this is superb stuff.  Silky, fleshy and sewn together with elegantly [...]

Escarpment Pahi Martinborough Pinot Noir 2009

Escarpment ‘Pahi’ Martinborough Pinot Noir 2009 $65  This is one of a select five limited-edition; site-specific wines produced by Lord Larry McPinot and it’s a monster.  Sexy cherry and intense dark chocolate merge with shitake mushroom and delicious dried herb notes. Despite packing a punch in the mouth the tannins are silken, lush and lovely [...]

Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2008

Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2008 $29  Attractive garnet-red colour and simply oozes fresh raspberry, cherry and hedgerow-fruit essences.  In the mouth it has purity of fruit combined with wild game notes and sexy, earthy spices.  If that doesn’t grab you, the long, silky, slippery finish definitely will.  Just lovely.  www.limerock.co.nz 

Gibbston Valley Wines Pinot Noir 2009

Gibbston Valley Wines Pinot Noir 2009 $42  Densely coloured and powerfully scented with dried herbs, forest-floor notes, black tea and bitter cherry.  In the mouth the tannins are fresh, spicy and showing some richness and grip on the long, lingering finish.  It’s an incredibly floral, lush pinot which has a good backbone for cellaring yet [...]

Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir 2009

Rippon ‘Tinkers Field’ Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2009 $95  Yes, you are right, it is that price.  But I guarantee if you try this you’ll quickly realize that the last thing you spent ninety dollars on didn’t give you half the satisfaction as just one sip of the Tinkers Field.  Biodynamically produced from one of [...]