"Revealing elegance and sophistication, the engaging bouquet shows black doris plum, dark cherry, warm spice and toasted nut characters with nuances of truffle and floral. The palate displays outstanding concentration and focus, while offering rich texture and expansive mouthfeel, superbly framed by loads of fine, polished tannins. Multi-layered and magnificently flowing to an impressively long silky finish. The wine is gloriously composed and expressed, promising to evolve gracefully. The wine exhibits classic Te Mata elegance, freshness and refinement within a perfectly formed structure" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2019

"A very expressive velvet-textured bouquet showing lots of youthful power and energy as well as a core of fruit, oak and savoury complexity. Perfectly weighted on the palate, dry, savoury and fruity with a plum, cherry and spice flavour package. Whispers of dark rose and stony minerality. There’s no mistaking the impact of oak and whole bunch approach, but there’s enough weight and fruit to carry this aspect. Tannins and acidity are abundant. Overall a very nice wine, very young with an inherent complexity that should carry it well into the bottle developed phase. Best decanted for service with ideal drinking 2021 through 2026" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jun 2019

"Moderately deep colour with a ruby rim. Delicately scented pinot noir with a plum, dark berry, liquorice, black pepper, anise, subtle dried herb and spicy oak flavours. Classy wine - an amplified version of the Estate Pinot Noir with a fairly solid influence of stylish oak" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jul 2019

Midnight-dark with a deep crimson edge, Alma ’18 is a triumph of aromatic wild strawberry, black cherry, currants, marzipan, sage and sandalwood. The palate’s ripe, sustained, structure reveals a parade of spice and brooding, soft, dark, berry fruits and rich savoury tannins - set to unfurl with time. Cherry, black plum, cinnamon and smoke, all glide across a palate which is wonderfully deep-set. Finely-dressed for its debut, the premiere release of Alma ’18 is modern, majestic, and enchanting in its detail. Alma Pinot Noir ’18 is closed with a ‘Diam’ cork, which eliminates any possibility of cork taint, allowing continued evolution in bottle for six years from harvest.

Alma celebrates Dr James Thomson, a hero of the 1854 Battle of the Alma during the Crimean War and forefather to Te Mata Estate’s Buck family. Knowing the vanquished enemy soldiers had already contracted cholera, Dr Thomson volunteered to tend to their wounds, saving the lives of over four hundred, and sacrificing his own in the process. The medal he was awarded for this selfless act of valour appears on the label of Alma Pinot Noir.

Separate parcels of fully ripened pinot noir grapes were hand-harvested from Te Mata Estate’s Woodthorpe Vineyards between 3 and 17 March 2018.

The individual lots were each destemmed and given a traditional warm-plunged fermentation. The resulting wines underwent extended maceration on skins before pressing. The separate wines were then run to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 11 months’ maturation.