Enchanted by pinot noir selection
SOMETIMES, I sit down with my regular tasting buddies, Collins and McLaren, and it just feels like the stars align.
That was very much the case with this selection of single vineyard pinot noirs, which did lend credence to why winemakers can get all geeky about individual sites.
Stimulating, wonderfully complex, full of potential yet already offering drinkability, and all making me wish that I had cellar space and funds to spare. A splurge? Yes, but a rewarding one, I feel.
2019 Rockburn Eleven Barrels Parkburn Vineyard pinot noir
Price: $96 Rating: Excellent
Florality, darker flowers (almost violets), spices, wet stones, bonfire embers, plum. Punchy and rich palate with dark fruits, boysenberry, charcoal and a hint of dark chocolate. Rich and mouthfilling, a suppleness and silkiness with the tannins nicely integrated before the long, spicy finish. Fleshy, round and already showing appealing drinkability.
www.rockburn.co.nz
2019 Gibbston Valley School House
Single Vineyard pinot noir
Price: $65 Rating: Excellent
A wisp of liqueur fruits join smoke and burnt toast, fragrance building. Powerful fruit in the mouth with tannins to match giving this a dark and brooding feel. A sweet burst of fruit is matched by earthy, spicy nuances, developing a grainy feel to the tannins running to a long, dry close. Charry notes more evident with time. This is clearly built for the long haul.
www.gibbstonvalley.com
2019 Gibbston Valley Glenlee
Single Vineyard Gibbston pinot noir Price: $65
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Berry jam, herbs, savoury notes, growing perfume, an interplay between red & dark fruits. Wood smoke, herbs, a blackberry like tanginess, ripe cranberry weaving its way through the drying mid palate. Brightness, energy and vivacity, fleshing out, yet retaining that sweet fruit/tangy counterpoint. Youthful, juicy, a refreshing coolness to the long finish.
www.gibbstonvalley.com
2019 Gibbston Valley Le Maitre
Single Vineyard Gibbston pinot noir
Price: $100 Rating: Outstanding
Delightful fragrance leads, wild herbs, rhubarb, tea, savoury notes, sweet red fruits, everchanging. Raspberry, red fruits, a tangy vibrancy, lightness and elegance yet richness too managing power without weight. Bright acidity and surprising tannins with a long, dry, grainy close. The youthful exuberance more evident, an iron fist in a velvet glove. Lovely.
www.gibbstonvalley.com
2019 Gibbston Valley Diamond
Single Vineyard
Pisa pinot noir
Price: $65 Rating: Excellent
Raspberry acid drops, wood smoke, wood smoke, humus, gravel, milky coffee, red & dark fruits, savoury notes with aeration. Brooding with tightly coiled tannins, real chewiness to the texture allowing a peek at the wood smoke, earth and savoury notes bubbling under. Ripe fruit yet not sweet, a little tangy cranberry too. Needs time to reveal all it can offer.
www.gibbstonvalley.com
2019 Gibbston Valley China Terrace
Single Vineyard Bendigo pinot noir Price: $65
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Liqueur fruits, berry compote, raspberry, shifting to umami and herb notes. Powerful palate, crunchy tannins, sweet fruit yet raciness too with a minerally/ stony/gravelly element and black tea notes adding complexity. Deceptive weight and power to this, the dense fruit match by other complexing nuances. Another one built for the long haul.
www.gibbstonvalley.com