Excellent aged Martinborough style. Horse manure and sweet raspberries. Good presence, excellent length and complexity. These wines do mature and develop well. Drunk a day after we drove through the Te Muna Road vineyards, Great drinking now but will hold and continue to develop.
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Nice fruit driven New World styled pinot.. still drinking well but I wouldn't cellar much longer... thank goodness that was my last bottle I would have guessed it a Cali Pinot had I tasted blind
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Very interesting flavor profile... very unique... has a bright stewed cherries and barnyard like nose .. mostly fruit driven on palate.. but the concentration makes the wine.. I found it very drinkable and pleasant... lacked complexity and finish... already showing some age ..this wine won't get any better...drink up
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This was a bit all over the place. Definite bricking of colour. The nose didn't offer much more than alcohol and some spiciness. At first, sweet red berry fruits with high acid, dusty tannins, and a streak of minerality. Eventually the fruits softened and a metallic, tea leave, and baking spice elements shine through. The alcohol stayed through on the palate from start to finish. In a weird stage right now? I'm not convinced this will come back around, very unbalanced overall.
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92-. Deliciously ripe and sweet pinot fruit. Cherry, strawberry and plum framed by earth, spice, and hints of smoke, bitter chocolate (or coffee) and toast. With aeration, the earthiness dissipates and the root spices becomes more pronounced. Smooth, silky and relatively round, except for a little bitterness and bite which emerge on the back end. Tannins are ripe and subdued. Long and vibrant finish. Oak is very well integrated. Adequate complexity, with a wide array of aromas and flavors, although they often seem muddled together, lacking precise definition. This seems somewhat low in acidity for a pinot, but something about the sweetness seems to make this wine pair well with a wide variety of foods. (Went well with duck breast in polynesian spices, and amazingly even stood up to barbecued ribs...) I'm surprised how much I liked this, given the fact that I generally prefer pinots with more acidity and less overt jamminess. But, something about this combination of elements really seems to work; and the overall impression is one of balance and elegance, albeit in a forward style. Day 2: Faded fruit. Harsher and more bitter on the palate. Based on this (and the last bottle), I'd say drink now.
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Color shaded just a bit toward brick, not youthful looking. Nose and palate show wet mineral, red berries, warm spices, with a slight volatile, bretty, bathroom note that I was not expecting. Quite awkward, with the youthful acidity balanced by more mature elements, with a slighty volatile and hot mid-palate. The finish is long and jammy. Overall harsh and unbalanced, a surprising decline from the previous bottle. Not worth drinking now, I'll try holding for a couple years to see it this comes back together, but am not optimistic.
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Good clear brickish color. Nose was very expressive with flowers, cherries, and strawberries. It's a fuller bodied wine and a tad on the sweet/ripe side. Good finish, could've used more complexity and length. Good wine, but not great. It was a little too heavy to pair well with food. In terms of aging, it's doing well, but I don't think it's got more than five years of life left. The structure just doesn’t seem to be there, and I didn't see much in the way of earth components or underbrush either.
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excellent pinot...served v slightly chilled had oodles of bitter black cherries...missus loves it...not as cultured as the Felton Road but a good effort
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Decanted for 1 hour. Strong aromas of dried cherries , strawberries and plum. On the palate very smooth and velvety with a hint of earthiness and spice. Smooth long finish reminding me of black cherries but softer. A well balanced wine.
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Better than the last I tasted a few months ago, but not much. Hints of chocolate and dust on the nose, but the palate had an unpleasant bittertaste to it. Finish was very short as well. I expected much more.
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On open - concentrated (jammy) nose of dried cherries, plum, rose, with hints of musk (and smoke?). After an hour or two, a much more earthy nose with musk and game much more prevalent. Palate: medium mouthfeel, velvety sour cherry with spice, black pepper. Very velevety, supple tannins. Nicely balanced. Medium finish. Quite a nice wine, though personal tastes wish for lighter, less gamey pinot. This had some hints of big-zin (why? no idea. oak? pepper?)
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elegant anf fruit focused in the glass. very bright cherry with a soft texture surrounded by good tannins to add some seriousness :) Short to medium finish. Fun Wine. My better half liked it so thats all that matters !
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Light cherry/garnet. Nose of judicious warm oak, red berries, cherry cola, hints of licorice and black pepper, and a slight vegetal note. A bit simpler on the palate, very pleasant, balanced for drinking now or within a few years. Not big or structured, but at least it's elegant like a good Pinot should be.
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The wine had a nose of forest floor, cherry, and slight cola. It was lush and sweet without being sugary. Medium to full with nice acidity to cut the ripe fruit, showed very well.
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Really nice. Very strong funky (and slightly unpleasant) earth aromas at first, but they subside quickly, and after an hour or so are only there in the background. Texture is lovely. Velvety and smooth. Tannins are definitely present, but are fine and well integrated. Nice fresh acidity. Good medium-long finish. Lots of soft pretty fruit – black cherry and plum (maybe a tiny bid of raisin), but by no means overdone. Some good spice there as well – perhaps cinammon, nutmeg or cloves. The earth is not strong on the palate, but there is a dustiness lingering there in the background. I don't get a lot of obvious oak, but I think may manifest itself in the sweetness of the fruit and the hints of spice. Not an incredibly subtle pinot, but certainly more so than most I've had from CA. Maybe a little closer to an Oregon pinot profile. Rich, elegant and well-balanced. Was a great match with smoked duck breast, french bread and assorted cheeses (pecorino, gouda, etc.) Considerably worse on the 2nd day. Garbage by the 3rd. There was something in the initail aroma that seemed a little odd. I'm wondering if this bottle could possibly have been slightly off. Nevertheless, it was good. Looking forward to trying some more.
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NobleRottersSydney - Christmas Lunch 2006 (David's place): "Totara Block" - {14%, cork} Intriguing garnet/mahogany colour. Earthy but complex fungal/farmyard nose, but not faulty in any way. Positively burgundian, in fact. A sophisticated palate of spicy pinot fruit, terrific balance, persistent acid, long dry finish. Very classy wine. Great stuff.
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4/26/2010 - Marc wrote: 89 Points
Excellent aged Martinborough style. Horse manure and sweet raspberries. Good presence, excellent length and complexity. These wines do mature and develop well. Drunk a day after we drove through the Te Muna Road vineyards, Great drinking now but will hold and continue to develop.
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1/6/2010 - profiler54 wrote: 90 Points
Nice fruit driven New World styled pinot.. still drinking well but I wouldn't cellar much longer... thank goodness that was my last bottle I would have guessed it a Cali Pinot had I tasted blind
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11/8/2009 - profiler54 wrote: 90 Points
Very interesting flavor profile... very unique... has a bright stewed cherries and barnyard like nose .. mostly fruit driven on palate.. but the concentration makes the wine.. I found it very drinkable and pleasant... lacked complexity and finish... already showing some age ..this wine won't get any better...drink up
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3/9/2009 - jjclips2 wrote: 85 Points
This was a bit all over the place. Definite bricking of colour. The nose didn't offer much more than alcohol and some spiciness. At first, sweet red berry fruits with high acid, dusty tannins, and a streak of minerality. Eventually the fruits softened and a metallic, tea leave, and baking spice elements shine through. The alcohol stayed through on the palate from start to finish. In a weird stage right now? I'm not convinced this will come back around, very unbalanced overall.
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9/8/2008 - schway wrote: 91 Points
92-. Deliciously ripe and sweet pinot fruit. Cherry, strawberry and plum framed by earth, spice, and hints of smoke, bitter chocolate (or coffee) and toast. With aeration, the earthiness dissipates and the root spices becomes more pronounced. Smooth, silky and relatively round, except for a little bitterness and bite which emerge on the back end. Tannins are ripe and subdued. Long and vibrant finish. Oak is very well integrated. Adequate complexity, with a wide array of aromas and flavors, although they often seem muddled together, lacking precise definition. This seems somewhat low in acidity for a pinot, but something about the sweetness seems to make this wine pair well with a wide variety of foods. (Went well with duck breast in polynesian spices, and amazingly even stood up to barbecued ribs...) I'm surprised how much I liked this, given the fact that I generally prefer pinots with more acidity and less overt jamminess. But, something about this combination of elements really seems to work; and the overall impression is one of balance and elegance, albeit in a forward style.
Day 2: Faded fruit. Harsher and more bitter on the palate. Based on this (and the last bottle), I'd say drink now.
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9/2/2008 - petitblanc wrote: 83 Points
Color shaded just a bit toward brick, not youthful looking. Nose and palate show wet mineral, red berries, warm spices, with a slight volatile, bretty, bathroom note that I was not expecting. Quite awkward, with the youthful acidity balanced by more mature elements, with a slighty volatile and hot mid-palate. The finish is long and jammy. Overall harsh and unbalanced, a surprising decline from the previous bottle. Not worth drinking now, I'll try holding for a couple years to see it this comes back together, but am not optimistic.
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5/11/2008 - mebydef wrote: 89 Points
Good clear brickish color. Nose was very expressive with flowers, cherries, and strawberries. It's a fuller bodied wine and a tad on the sweet/ripe side. Good finish, could've used more complexity and length. Good wine, but not great. It was a little too heavy to pair well with food. In terms of aging, it's doing well, but I don't think it's got more than five years of life left. The structure just doesn’t seem to be there, and I didn't see much in the way of earth components or underbrush either.
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4/1/2008 - jhill wrote: 85 Points
spices, little pepper, well balanced
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2/20/2008 - drunkstar wrote: 90 Points
excellent pinot...served v slightly chilled had oodles of bitter black cherries...missus loves it...not as cultured as the Felton Road but a good effort
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2/3/2008 - j4872 wrote: 89 Points
Decanted for 1 hour. Strong aromas of dried cherries , strawberries and plum. On the palate very smooth and velvety with a hint of earthiness and spice. Smooth long finish reminding me of black cherries but softer. A well balanced wine.
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9/15/2007 - Ali wrote: 87 Points
Lots of red berries, but not much else
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8/18/2007 - cvvhrn wrote: 79 Points
Better than the last I tasted a few months ago, but not much. Hints of chocolate and dust on the nose, but the palate had an unpleasant bittertaste to it. Finish was very short as well. I expected much more.
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7/20/2007 - indiscriminate palate wrote:
On open - concentrated (jammy) nose of dried cherries, plum, rose, with hints of musk (and smoke?). After an hour or two, a much more earthy nose with musk and game much more prevalent. Palate: medium mouthfeel, velvety sour cherry with spice, black pepper. Very velevety, supple tannins. Nicely balanced. Medium finish. Quite a nice wine, though personal tastes wish for lighter, less gamey pinot. This had some hints of big-zin (why? no idea. oak? pepper?)
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6/23/2007 - LPskeleton wrote: 90 Points
elegant anf fruit focused in the glass. very bright cherry with a soft texture surrounded by good tannins to add some seriousness :) Short to medium finish. Fun Wine. My better half liked it so thats all that matters !
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6/12/2007 - petitblanc wrote: 91 Points
Light cherry/garnet. Nose of judicious warm oak, red berries, cherry cola, hints of licorice and black pepper, and a slight vegetal note. A bit simpler on the palate, very pleasant, balanced for drinking now or within a few years. Not big or structured, but at least it's elegant like a good Pinot should be.
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6/10/2007 - mebydef wrote: 92 Points
The wine had a nose of forest floor, cherry, and slight cola. It was lush and sweet without being sugary. Medium to full with nice acidity to cut the ripe fruit, showed very well.
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5/25/2007 - schway wrote: 92 Points
Really nice. Very strong funky (and slightly unpleasant) earth aromas at first, but they subside quickly, and after an hour or so are only there in the background. Texture is lovely. Velvety and smooth. Tannins are definitely present, but are fine and well integrated. Nice fresh acidity. Good medium-long finish. Lots of soft pretty fruit – black cherry and plum (maybe a tiny bid of raisin), but by no means overdone. Some good spice there as well – perhaps cinammon, nutmeg or cloves. The earth is not strong on the palate, but there is a dustiness lingering there in the background. I don't get a lot of obvious oak, but I think may manifest itself in the sweetness of the fruit and the hints of spice. Not an incredibly subtle pinot, but certainly more so than most I've had from CA. Maybe a little closer to an Oregon pinot profile. Rich, elegant and well-balanced. Was a great match with smoked duck breast, french bread and assorted cheeses (pecorino, gouda, etc.) Considerably worse on the 2nd day. Garbage by the 3rd. There was something in the initail aroma that seemed a little odd. I'm wondering if this bottle could possibly have been slightly off. Nevertheless, it was good. Looking forward to trying some more.
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5/10/2007 - cvvhrn wrote: 77 Points
Possibly a bad bottle. This had an astringent taste to it and a muted nose to boot. I have a few more bottles and I will retry it at a later date.
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4/14/2007 - cbraun wrote: 95 Points
Gorgeous wine and a great value. Plummy Nose, velvet soft texture, long finish. Ready to drink now.
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12/6/2006 - graemeg wrote:
NobleRottersSydney - Christmas Lunch 2006 (David's place): "Totara Block" - {14%, cork} Intriguing garnet/mahogany colour. Earthy but complex fungal/farmyard nose, but not faulty in any way. Positively burgundian, in fact. A sophisticated palate of spicy pinot fruit, terrific balance, persistent acid, long dry finish. Very classy wine. Great stuff.
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10/20/2006 - winefool wrote: 90 Points
WS California Wine Experience Pinot Noir Tasting (San Francisco Marriott): Medium/full red. Forward aroma of sweet black cherry with hints of earth. Nice sweet black cherry on the palate with good acidity. Nice but a bit simple.
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5/19/2006 - Frijole wrote:
clear ruby red medium center clarity
Nose: earth, seared plum, smoky earth
Flavor: earth, light cherries, touch strawberry, strange mellow saffron flavors, touch apple kiwi and chalk, mustard
Feel: savory, medium
Finish: med/long
TC8
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