"Moderately deep, dark ruby-red colour, lighter on the rim with slight purple hues. The nose is softly full and ethereal, unfolding to show voluminous aromas of savoury red cherry and berry fruits with red florals intermingling with a layering of dried herbs. This has subtle nuances of nutty oak, spices and earth. The aromatics are beautifully detailed. Medium-full bodied, the palate has mouthfilling flavours of sweetly rich, savoury dark-red cherry fruit harmoniously entwined with dried herbs, spices, earth and undergrowth elements. The fruit is vibrant and lively, forming a concentrated heart, and is underlined by plenty of fine-grained, flowery tannin extraction lending structure and grip. The acidity is soft and integrated, and the wine flows positively to a long, lingering, savoury finish. This is a rich, mouthfilling Pinot Noir with ethereal savoury red fruits complexed by a layering of dried herbs, earth and undergrowth, on a substantially extracted, fine-grained palate. Match with slow-cooked game meats and casseroles over the next 7-8+ years. Clones 5 and 6 fruit from the ‘Gibbston Back Road’ vineyard, fully destemmed and fermented to 14.0% alc., the wine on skins for 22 days and aged 13 months in 28.6% new French oak" Raymond Chan, Feb 2018

"The notably graceful, silky-textured 2016 vintage is a single-vineyard red, grown in the Gibbston Back Road Vineyard, barrel-matured, and bottled without fining or filtering. Deep and youthful in colour, it is fragrant and full-bodied, with very generous, well-ripened plum and spice flavours, a hint of dried herbs, a seasoning of nutty oak, and excellent complexity and length. Very savoury and supple, it’s already delicious, but well worth cellaring to 2020+" Michael Cooper,  Oct2017

"This is a big imperious style with dramatic flourishes. Overt floral and spice scents lead through to an opulent dark-fruited mouthful. The fruit is rich ripe and concentrated and the oak presence is vociferous. Another wine that will reward time in the cellar. Have it with slow cooked lamb shanks" Cuisine Magazine, New Zealand Pinot Noir Tasting, May 2018

Rockburn Seven Barrels: the name says it all really. Every year Rockburn fill hundreds of French oak barrels with Pinot Noir, and every year their wine maker, Malcolm searches for those individual barrels that most eloquently speak of site and season. The results of this search create a wine that exhibits the attributes the Rocknurn teamenjoy most about Pinot Noir; subtlety, elegance and personality. The 2016 Seven Barrels Pinot Noir is a single vineyard wine displaying the elegance, power and grace generated by our Gibbston Back Road Vineyard site.

Hailing from Gibbston a sub-region of Central Otago, which is a narrow valley enclosed by mountains where about 250 hectares of vines are planted on sloping, north facing land on the south bank of the Kawarau River. Gibbston is the coolest and highest of the sub-regions with vineyards between 320 and 420 metres altitude.

An excellent season compared to the rest of the country, good yields off our own blocks and low disease pressure. The 2016 vintage had a long, dry autumn, encouraging perfect ripeness in all the fruit, while retaining great levels of complexity and subtlety in the cooler Gibbston sub-region. This wine was fermented in a 7 tonne fermenter and remained on skins for 22 days. Of the seven barrels selected, two were new oak. Malo-lactic fermentation took place in the Spring; mid-Summer the seven barrels were selected, and set aside for a further six months maturation before bottling without fining or filtration (some deposit may occur in the bottle).