2019 Valli Pinot Noir Bannockburn Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (5) Avg Score: 90 points

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  11/27/2023 - RandalWA wrote: 94 Points

  Shows off everything I love about Central Otago Pinot Noir: potent fruit ripeness, bramble and wild herbs, savoury earth, wood spice. The fruit is darker with more blackberry and black cherry yet there is still sweet raspberry. Dried thyme and mushroom add complexity, subtle whole bunch stemminess, cedar & coffee in the background. Refreshing acidity is evidence of the cooler vintage. Probably going to get better for a few more years. Great producer, one of my favourites. 94+

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  3/9/2023 - LesPaul wrote:

  Not a winner, at least at this age, and not by Valli's usually high standards. Pleasant perfumey dark nose, not complex. But astringent on the palate, even weirdly tannic? Not in a giving mood here in early '23. Shame to encounter a rare misfire from one of my favorite producers.
  
  UPDATE: Day 2, after Vacu Vin and refrigerator door storage - almost like a whole new wine. Still not going to make anyone's Best Of list, but the aromatics are approaching beautiful - is that thyme? - while some fruit starts to show through (though quite herbaceous, in a good way). Not fair to judge it as purely harshly as it came out of the bottle, given how much a day brought it to actual drinkability.

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  11/25/2022 - WindFlyer Likes this wine: 90 Points

  New Zealand South Island Pinot Noirs from Valli: deep ruby in the glass with appreciable body. the nose has more black than red cherries, blueberries, hints of thyme, violets and wood sap. the fruits feel generous in the mouth, with ample texture and medium body, and backed by strong tannins. with considerable time in the glass some subtleties work their way thru the ample fruit and tannins and hint at what some more time in bottle (or perhaps just very good aeration) can bring out.
  
  13.% AbV, and one that can likely have a long life.

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  12/24/2021 - HowardNZ Likes this wine:

  The (Temporary) Return of the Golden Weather: Autumn 2021 Visit to Central Otago: From a high site at 350 metres above sea level. 2019 was a challenging vintage for this site with frost, (localised) hail, then a cyclone. Jen and her team has done well to produce this wine. Dark fruited, earthy with some damp forest floor but overall less aromatic than the other pinots in the tasting. Some whole bunch influence (here only 25%, not the usual 35%, whole bunch). In the mouth, less open. Grippy and somewhat grumpy tannins (again, 30% new oak). Not immediately attractive. Perhaps give it 2-3+ years? Rating: 4/4

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  5/23/2021 - RyanWu Likes this wine: 91 Points

  The nose was quite simple. Initially, acid was a bit off balance. After 5 hours decanted in wine cellar, the flesh came out and balance the tartness. The lasting was medium length. To sum up, this is a good wine for sure but definitely not a WS 93 wine.

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