Pinots & Chard with The Terroirist (Extra Space): Tasted blind. Pop and poured. Appearance is clear, medium intensity, ruby colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with an initial blast of funkiness that blew off to reveal aromas of dark red cherries, loamy earth, smoky oak, sweet baking spices. Developed. On the palate, dry, medium+ acidity, medium+ alcohol, smooth medium tannins, medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sweet licorice, smoky oak, baking spice, loamy earth, dark red cherries. Long finish. Guessed an aged NZ Pinot Noir. Very good quality. Drinking well now. Drink up over the next 2-3 years. NZ Pinot when done well does have the potential to age gracefully.
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Very Burg (Gevrey) feeling NZ Pinot. Good structure / composition. No new-world nose, but more classical Pinot. More black than red fruit. Interesting.
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Dark in color in the way only a New World Pinot would be, the nose is not overdone. There are strong and enticing sweet strawberry and raspberry aromas, but also plenty of sweaty socks and gym shorts. The palate does not have nearly the sweetness that the nose would suggest, and it begins with a bit of that funk, but not so much that it is off-putting. After six years in the bottle, the tannin is mostly resolved, and the wine's texture is very smooth. The mid-palate and finish show plenty of acid, so there is still a firm sense of structure even though the wine has some delicacy and finesse. There is also secondary maple and wet forest flavors behind everything. Overall, this is a very good wine. Is it worth the $40 CT average value? Probably not quite, but I only paid a pro-rated $33, and it probably just hits that mark. This is a good wine now, but there is enough acid to keep this alive for a good while yet, and there may be additional secondary development over the next few years. Adding some mushroom and soil flavors would definitely help. It is not infanticide to drink this right now, but it wouldn't be wrong to hold it for awhile, either.
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Very good well made smooth as you like Pinot Noir. Lovely perfumed nose of violets, and rich red fruit with some more earthy tones coming through nicely. Lovely and smooth on the palate with silky tannins. Overall a good well made wine that reflects it terroir nicely whilst also nodding to well made Burgundys at several times this price.
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taste: good feel with candied red fruits, bright red cherries, plums, and raspberries
overall: much more california in style then most other NZ pinots. Extremely nice with a good smooth feel, but lacking a bit in acidity that I would expect from a higher end pinot from NZ
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2/19/2022 - Winiac wrote: 93 Points
Sweet and pure flavors. Balanced structure. Focused flavors with smokey background. Medium weight and long finish. Has delicious factor.
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5/29/2021 - Skyegus wrote:
Velvety, rich and depth of fruit flavour, great finish
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5/19/2015 - Derek Darth Taster Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pinots & Chard with The Terroirist (Extra Space): Tasted blind. Pop and poured.
Appearance is clear, medium intensity, ruby colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with an initial blast of funkiness that blew off to reveal aromas of dark red cherries, loamy earth, smoky oak, sweet baking spices. Developed.
On the palate, dry, medium+ acidity, medium+ alcohol, smooth medium tannins, medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sweet licorice, smoky oak, baking spice, loamy earth, dark red cherries. Long finish.
Guessed an aged NZ Pinot Noir. Very good quality. Drinking well now. Drink up over the next 2-3 years.
NZ Pinot when done well does have the potential to age gracefully.
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1/18/2015 - steinersing wrote: 89 Points
Very Burg (Gevrey) feeling NZ Pinot. Good structure / composition. No new-world nose, but more classical Pinot. More black than red fruit. Interesting.
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7/11/2012 - Phredd wrote: 90 Points
Dark in color in the way only a New World Pinot would be, the nose is not overdone. There are strong and enticing sweet strawberry and raspberry aromas, but also plenty of sweaty socks and gym shorts. The palate does not have nearly the sweetness that the nose would suggest, and it begins with a bit of that funk, but not so much that it is off-putting. After six years in the bottle, the tannin is mostly resolved, and the wine's texture is very smooth. The mid-palate and finish show plenty of acid, so there is still a firm sense of structure even though the wine has some delicacy and finesse. There is also secondary maple and wet forest flavors behind everything. Overall, this is a very good wine. Is it worth the $40 CT average value? Probably not quite, but I only paid a pro-rated $33, and it probably just hits that mark. This is a good wine now, but there is enough acid to keep this alive for a good while yet, and there may be additional secondary development over the next few years. Adding some mushroom and soil flavors would definitely help. It is not infanticide to drink this right now, but it wouldn't be wrong to hold it for awhile, either.
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4/5/2012 - Andrew B Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fantastic Kiwi pinot. Great concentration and depth. Wonderful nose and secondary charateristics starting to show
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3/21/2011 - hutch wrote: 91 Points
Singular Selections Tasting (Cook & Brown): Really funky. Classic aromatics. Beautiful Pinot Noir, a really good representation of the heights NZ can reach. 90-92
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1/31/2011 - beezer6 wrote: 90 Points
Glunz Grand Tasting (Union League Club of Chicago): Super stinky. Licorice. Light smoke. nice aromatics.
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7/30/2010 - markjahnke wrote: 90 Points
By far the best New Zeland pinot noir I have ever had. If drinking this blind, I never would have guessed New Zealand. Formal notes to come!
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11/3/2009 - gpowell1978 wrote: 89 Points
Very good well made smooth as you like Pinot Noir. Lovely perfumed nose of violets, and rich red fruit with some more earthy tones coming through nicely. Lovely and smooth on the palate with silky tannins. Overall a good well made wine that reflects it terroir nicely whilst also nodding to well made Burgundys at several times this price.
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1/26/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 89 Points
Glunz Wines Winter Portfolio tasting (union league club, chicago IL): nose: in a new world style with candied red fruits, plums, and tart tones of raspberries. decent depth and showing off a bit more complexity then the last two NZ pinots
taste: good feel with candied red fruits, bright red cherries, plums, and raspberries
overall: much more california in style then most other NZ pinots. Extremely nice with a good smooth feel, but lacking a bit in acidity that I would expect from a higher end pinot from NZ
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