Intense, expressive, fruit-driven. Native to Burgundy and notoriously fickle, the Pinot Noir grape has found a home away from home in New Zealand.

Pinot Noir is predominantly grown in the cooler southerly regions: Wairarapa, Marlborough, Nelson, North Canterbury and Central Otago. The huge diversity in climates and soils enables a wide range of styles from these main Pinot Noir producing regions. Common to all, however, is structure and elegance overlaid by power and fruit-driven intensity. Since the 1990s, plantings have expanded throughout all regions in the South Island and select sites in the North Island.

Collection includes:

2 x Muddy Water Waipara Pinot Noir 2018

Savoury with luscious red fruits, this Pinot Noir is mineral, with sustained power and poise.

Alc - 14.00%

2 x Nanny Goat Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020

AWARDED 93/100 POINTS: Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, May 2021

AWARDED 92/100 POINTS: International Wine Challenge 2021

AWARDED 91/100 POINTS: Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, May 2021

"Raspberry and black cherry, clove and toasty wood, damson plums and dried earth mineral scents. Firm textures on the palate, chalky tannins and acidity, contrasting core of fruit with flavours that reflect the nose, a light savoury dried herb layer adds further contrast and complexity. Oak flavours and mineral add depth and contrast. A great food pairing wine or on its own with best drinking from 2021 through 2026" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, May 2021

"Intensely perfumed. Earthy notes with damson fruit, cinnamon stick and some herbiness, rich and concentrated" International Wine Challenge 2021

"Supple, succulent, very bright and fresh feeling. Leads with tart cherry fruit characters, a good deal of crunchy, drying cranberry tang and pucker, some dried herbs, a light dusting of pepper. Refreshing feel to taste, vivacious, lively and rips along with sinewy tannin and heaps of tangy acidity. Strap in! Good with a light chill, better in a few years when things settle down" Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, May 2021

The 2020 Nanny Goat Vineyard Pinot Noir bursts forth from the glass with powerful aromas of black and blue berry fruits, sweet baking spice, toasty oak and lifted red florals. The palate is silken, with powdery fine tannins and a perfectly balanced seam of acidity teasing out a core of crunchy red cherry and plum fruits towards a long, lingering finish.

Food Pairing: Peking duck pancakes.

Alc - 13.50%

2 x Margrain Rivers Edge Martinborough Pinot Noir 2018

The wine smiles demurely from the glass sporting a beautiful red-liquorice hue. The nose is led by sweet peach chutney, grilled red capsicum and folded white chocolate. Chewy black current jam, caramelised prune and dried fig give luscious fruity notes while rich Bisto gravy and rubbed totara fire-sticks impart a smoky complexity. Warm pumpkin pie sprinkled liberally with nutmeg fleshes out the nose which finishes with an intriguing earthy aroma like a fragrance by Issey Miyake. The palate is warm and wet and nuzzles up like a dog on the couch during a late-night movie. It has a generous mouthfeel and the silky smooth texture of fluffy rabbit hair combined with a zig-zagging tenacity which see-saws across the tongue and needles away like a 2 fingered typist. Rich blackberry dripping from the vine, raspberry drop and blueberry too lend a succulence and compliance which is reined in only slightly by chunky chopped almonds, aubergine skin and notes of a beef shin reduction. Blue chip tannins dance on the spot, jabbing left and right with a long reach while far from the shallow, restrained acidity contributes subtly to a sweet/sour indulgence.

Food Pairing: Try a glass with a rested but rare fillet of beef on the BBQ.

Alc - 13.30%