• French oak
• Dark cherry
• Subtle spice
• Mouth-filling

"Mellow, smooth-textured Pinot with nicely integrated cherry, plum, dried herb, thyme, anise, and spicy oak flavours. Supple, elegant wine with power delivered with consummate subtlety. When I first tasted it I thought “that’s good”, then “that’s very good” and then “that’s terrific”. It seduced me gradually" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Mar 2023

"Complex and alluring bouquet - aromas of soil and spice, oak and red berry fruits, flowers and kitchen spices. Lovely texture and palate engagement with chalky tannins, medium+ - ish acidity, vanilla and soft toasty spices of oak then fruit flavours that reflect the nose. Lengthy finish, youthful still and well made. Just needs some cellar time. 2028" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Oct 2020

"Evolving savoury aromas with a lift of red plum and raspberry, seasoned by dark roses and lifted spice nuances. Delicious, ripe, with vibrant succulent red fruits" Decanter World Wine Awards 2022

"Some quite deep blueberry aromas with a leafyedge and brambly forest-berry notes, too. The palate has a very sleek texture, so supple and velvety, with bright red plum and blueberry, framed in sweet oak spices" James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com

This ruby red wine has complex aromatics and flavours showing dark cherry and plum notes with hints of earthy, spicy, savoury notes. The wine’s broad, mouth-filling weight and richness unfold with long, fine-grained tannins and lingering acidity with a velvety finish. 

Hand-picked from our oldest blocks of Pinot Noir on the Martinborough Terrace, the age of these vines is now beginning to show a real sense of terroir. The region has a cool, maritime climate, low annual rainfall, windy springs and a long warm ripening period through autumn. All this results in a naturally low-vigour site which regulates crops ensuring consistently ripe, high quality grapes are harvested.

An excellent season in Martinborough although it didn’t start out that way. A late spring frost caused some loss of fruit in some of our cooler vineyards. A wet spring followed which allowed vines to bounce back and grow to reach the top wire by Christmas. The traditional dry Martinborough summer finally arrived in January and carried right through to harvest We commenced picking fruit end of March - the result of a lovely summer. The beautiful conditions carried on throughout harvest and enabled us to finish picking by the first week of April with all fruit picked in clean and ripe conditions. Overall the season produced great wine quality.

The fruit was carefully hand sorted and destemmed (90%) before being transferred to small open top fermenters. The wine underwent a cool maceration for 4-7 days at 15°C before fermentation using indigenous yeasts. The wine was hand plunged daily and spent an average of 21 days on skins before being pressed. It was then aged for twelve months in French oak barrels (24% new) The wine was lightly fined with egg whites before going to bottle unfiltered for additional aging.

Established in 1980, Martinborough Vineyard is an icon in New Zealand winemaking history The first to plant Pinot Noir grapes in the famed region,Martinborough Vineyard is home to the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the district. Martinborough Vineyard produces the finest Pinot Noir in the New World with a focus on “Handcrafted Excellence in Wine.”

Food Pairing: We recommend serving with Roast Duck or Persian Lamb.