December 28, 2022 - Dark garnet with dark pink edges in color. Aromatic nose of cherries and strawberry shortcake. On the palate: bright cherries and baking spice. Grainy tannins are already starting to integrate and provide structure without dominating. Long, dry finish of red berries and mineral salinity.
December 14, 2020 - Fairly screechy acid tartness on 1st day requiring food to avoid palate damage; more drinkable on second day. Merely ok, not a worthy value here.
November 7, 2020 - 87-88 Boisterous, energetic when PnP (88+), very mellow on day 2. Balanced, but a bit too easy going for higher ⭐ Indigenous yeast, 10m in barrels, ~20% new.
N: Deep, brooding, cooked raspberries & black cherries, cream & toast, but still lifted with some stemminess, green leaves, medicinal note.
P: Med+ body, cooked English berries, just ripe, but with a fresh bite. Silky texture and gentle structure of med- tannins and med acidity. Crushed brown leaves & stems.
F: Sandalwood & toasty oak, earthy herbs.
July 5, 2020 - The expected: A truly characterful north island Pinot Noir from New Zealand. The unexpected: A puff of "smoke" when I twisted off the cap. It was like some bottles of Champagne blowing out CO2 on opening. The wine was sound, though some CO2 bubbles were clinging to the glass. Was it not de-gassed at the winery? A few extra swirls of the glass and all was well.
March 14, 2020 - Pretty boring. Classic Pinot nose. Quite tart - could call it crunchy if trying to be optimistic. Short finish. Not much going on. Put off further by it having unexpected sediment, which ruined the final glass!
January 24, 2020 - Medium ruby
Great nose of crunchy red fruit. Cranberries, dried strawberry. Some soil and evening garden smell.
On the palate, lovely red fruit flavours. Strawberries with black pepper. Some earth. Tannins are fine and very well resolved and the alcohol is perfectly in check. Good acidity lifts it and keeps it refreshing and drinkable.
This seems like a really well made wine and drinking perfectly now.
October 26, 2019 - Very well made and finely balanced wine. Wild strawberries (and slight earthiness) on the nose continues into the taste. Short finish. Slight acidity.
September 13, 2019 - very light strawberry notes. good acidity.
August 4, 2019 - Majestic UK, approx £20
N....fresh oak, some spices, no real complexities.
T.....warm spices and alc, some balance of fruit and acidity but just a hint the alc is to the fore; velvet texture, nice furry tannins though a bit crunchy at end; ends off-dry; good concentration at the end; drinking v well right now, why bother cellaring?
VFM?.....easily worth its RRPrice, will buy this 2015 season again and drink early.
June 19, 2019 - Pretty good. Drunk over three evenings, during which it developed a little. Dark ruby. A bouquet of black cherry, blackberry, dark soil, wet underbrush and clove. In the mouth, from a good, warm Martinborough vintage, powerful, quite broad shouldered and even a little aggressive. Polished dark cherries, cloves, cola, underbrush and some fresh green herbs (typical for the cooler, wetter Te Muna Road area). Fresh, persistent acidity. On the third evening more tawny dried leaves and earth. Under screw cap, it has the stuffing to cellar for many years but I doubt it'll improve materially from here.