"Brightly fruited and sweetly fragrant, the inviting bouquet shows dark cherry, ripe strawberry, violet and toasted nut aromas with nuances of warm spice and mushrooms. It is succulent and beautifully rounded on the palate, delivering fleshy mouthfeel and fine texture, elegantly framed by polished tannins. Crowd-pleasingly delicious. At its best: now to 2020" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, May 2018

"Accolade Wines has a significant Pinot Noir vineyard in Bendigo, Central Otago, and over the years has produced a number of top award winning wines from The ‘Claim 431’ vineyard. The wines invariably capture the darker fruit expression and firm structure that this sub-region seems to have inherent in the terroir. Most winegrowers have worked at moderating the tannin extraction to enable a degree of accessibility, and this is being achieved in the current wines. Accolade Wines has taken the approach to accessibility and consumer friendliness to another level with the ‘Madam Sass’ label, the inaugural 2016 vintage launched late last year (click here to see my review). The naming of the wine and its presentation exudes fun, another factor in approachability. The softer fruit expression and more supple tannins in the wine ensured its popularity in the market, such that Accolade are now releasing the 2017 vintage. I review the wine here, it showing a little more firmness and true Bendigo character" Raymond Chan, May 2018

Decadent blackberry and sweet dark cherry armos perfume this fragrant bouquet. This enticing Pinot Noir is full of attitude, style and extravagance. Decadent blackberry and sweet dark cherry aromas are delivered with opulence, chalky tannins and complex oak spice.

Bendigo is renowned for vibrant dark fruit flavours and finely tuned acidity. Formed from glaciers grinding schist rocks to smaller gravels and finer particles, the soil is rich in minerals, free draining and perfect for growing exceptional Pinot Noir. Literally named after a miners original gold claim, the Claim 431 Vineyard in Bendigo sits firmly at the heart of New Zealands illustrious gold rush history.

The grapes were gently harvested keeping the berries intact, cold soaked for a week and fermented with a combination of wild and cultured yeasts. Batches were hand-plunged to extract vibrant colour, structure and flavour. A combination of new and used French oak barrels stored the wine, adding texture and longevity. After 8 months the batches were blended then rested until bottling in July 2017.