Pinot noir from further north
TODAY’S clutch of wines hail from Marlborough and North Canterbury.
While it can vary from producer to producer, snippets of info on the harvest there suggest that people seem pretty happy with the quality of the fruit, though volumes look to be down. Some reports out of Marlborough mentioned quite a bit of ‘‘hen and chicken’’, where there are a mix of normal and small grapes in bunches. This can lead to greater flavour intensity, but less juice. Good news for you and I, though the wineries would rather have more to sell.
2017 Astrolabe Marlborough pinot noir
Price: $35 Rating: Excellent
Wild herbs, stalk, savoury notes, hint of oak, attractive florality growing with the fruit in support. Starts tangy and fresh, with darker fruits, lead pencil and leaf notes, shifting to a brooding forest floor/earthiness with time. Coolness to the fruit, fine tannins in support, lovely integration and drinkability already but potential too.
www.astrolabewines.co.nz
2017 Plume by Lake Chalice Marlborough pinot noir
Price: $49.99 Rating: Excellent
Darker, brooding nose with herbs, tree sap, smoke and dark fruits. Crunchy and chewy on entry, the tannins more noticeable, sweet dark fruits underpinning the wine with tangy cranberry and fruit pastille nuances. Develops a sour cherry note on the close. Powerfully built and still a little tightly wound, so give this some air time.
www.lakechalice.com
2018 Durvillea Marlborough pinot noir
Price: $20
Rating: Very good
Price RRP $20
Rating Very Good
Oak spices, char, bramble, sweet perfume and warm leather evolving. Earth, forest floor, graphite, ripe yet not overly sweet fruit with a bittersweet fruitpith type note on the close. Initially comes across as lighter in body, but builds in the glass. Tannins resolved, certainly not your fruit bomb style, and in the slot to enjoy now. Value here!
www.astrolabewines.co.nz
Vergence Red Mk 1 by Pegasus Bay
Price: $40
Rating: Very good to excellent
Stewed fruits, rhubarb, oak char, perfume growing. Sweet and spicy on entry, a tangy quality to the fruit reminiscent of tamarillo and cranberry. Aeration sees a shift to raspberry and plumy fruit notes as the fruit sweetness becomes more apparent. Juicy and bright, there’s a youthful brashness to this that demands food or a little time.
www.pegasusbay.com
2019 Villa Maria
Earth Garden Organic Marlborough pinot noir
Price: $24.95 Rating: Excellent
Ripe and liqueur fruits leap out of the glass with cardamom, lead pencil and dusty nuances. Powerful fruit here, abundant tannins, spices, schisty minerality and a savoury undercurrent. A vein of acidity runs through this, giving real zest while that mineral component really makes its presence felt. Lots of interest already and promise for the future.
www.villamariawines.com
2018 Pegasus Bay pinot noir
Price: $53 Rating: Excellent
Fascinating nose, earthy, savoury, forest floor & compost, the fruit neatly in support. Brooding intensity yet juicy and silky with fine tannins. Power without excess with darker fruits, graphite and minerals, the whole having complexity and lovely balance. Develops smokiness on the nose and flirts with a licorice/ varnishy note before the fruit carries the day.
www.pegasusbay.com