• Toasty oak
• Dark cherry
• Plum
• Powdery tannins

"Plush as a velvet cushion with black cherry fruit flavours and a long lasting finish. Seductive and lush but elegantly balanced." International Wine Challenge (IWC) 2019

"Dark cherry, plum, baked raspberry and brown baking spices of oak lead the bouquet. Dry with a firm youthful texture from abundant fine tannins , medium+ acidity and flavours of oak then red fruits of plum, dark cherry and raspberry. Balanced and well made, immediately enjoyable, totally drinkable. Best from today and through 2024" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Aug 2018

"Moderately dark ruby-red colour with some depth, lighter on the edge.  The nose has a firm core with good depth of dark cherry and raspberry fruit with suggestions of plums and liquorice.  The fruit is fresh and vibrant, unfolding a very delicate thread of dark and fresh herbs adding interest.  Medium-full bodied, the palate has an elegantly concentrated hearth with deep raspberry fruit along with notes of liquorice, spices and plums.  The fruit is sweet and rich and underlined by fine, grainy tannin extraction and structure, with balanced acidity lending energy.  The wine carries positively to a long, lingering, fruit-focussed finish.  This is a fresh, elegantly concentrated, youthful Pinot Noir with cherry, raspberry, liquorice and plum fruit flavours on a fine, grainy-structured palate with plenty of vitality.  Match with pasta, pizza, poultry and pork over the next 3-4 years.  Pinot Noir fruit, clones 115 and 777 from the ‘Delta Farm’ vineyard, fully destemmed and fermented to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 10 months, half in French oak and half in tank" Raymond Chan, Jul 2018

"Top wine from Delta vineyard in the Southern Valley subregion. Moderately dense and flavoursome pinot noir with dark cherry, berry, star anise and subtle spicy oak flavours. Sweet fruit balances interesting stalky complexity. A well-made wine with some cellaring potential" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review,  Jul 2018

"The 2017 vintage (4.5*) was estate-grown in the Souther n Valleys, hand-picked and matured in French oak casks (one third new), deeply coloured, it is mouthfillin, rich and vibrantly fruity, with plummy, spicy flavours, showing excellent ripeness and depth, and fine-grained tannins. A powerful, youthful red, it should be long-lived" Michael Cooper, 2018

"From the Southern Valleys, this is wonderfully fruited and seductive; the bouquet shows dark fruit, smoked game, vanilla, roasted hazelnut and truffle aromas, followed by a concentrated palate that is gracefully powerful. The wine offers terrific richness and plush mouthfeel, brilliantly supported by loads of fine tannins. It is engaging and flavoursome. At its best: now to 2022" Wine Orbit, 2018

"Well worth cellaring, this powerful young red was grown in the Waihopai Valley and matured in French oak barriques (33% new). Deeply coloured, it is mouthfilling and concentrated, with strong, ripe plum, spice and slight herb flavours, showing good complexity, and a well-structured finish" Winestate New Zealand, Marlborough Tasting, March 2019 Edition

A rich dark garnet in the glass with perfumed nose of dark berry, black olive and licoriuce aromas. The palate is rich and rounded, showcasing plum morello cherry and dried wild thyme characters with a powered tannin structure and toasty oak on the finish.

The Delta Farm, on the south side of Marlborough's Wairau River, is situated to the west of Blenheim at the mouth of the Waihopai Valley. The vineyard's low vigour clay soils, the elevation of the vineyard, and the dynamics that make Marlborough such a successful viticulture region - lots of sunshine, warm days, cool nights and plenty of breeze - make this site ideal for the production of top quality Pinot Noir.

Our winemaker selected the best Clone 115 grapes from our Delta vineyard. After a four day cold-soak to stabilize the colour, fermentation took place at temperatures of up to 34°C, with frequent gentle hand-plunging. Some whole bunches of grapes were retained and added to the fermenter to add tannin complexity. Once fermented, the wine was drained off the grape skins, then lightly settled and racked into new and seasoned French oak barriques for malolactic fermentation and 10 months’ maturation. The best barrels in the batch were selected by our winemaker then blended, lightly fined with fresh egg whites, and bottled with only a coarse filtration. Drinking beautifully now, this wine can be enjoyed young, or with careful cellaring will mature into a deeper, more complex wine that can be enjoyed during the next five years and beyond.

Food Pairing: This wine is well matched with rich lamb dishes.