Pinot Noir
Roll over: 100% Martinborough Pinot Noir
Helio is the side project put together by talented Clearview winemakers Sarah & Matt Kirby and wine entrepreneur Dave Nash.
Roll over: The meeting of two winemakers from the two hemispheres.
After a difficult flowering season of wind, rain and hail, fruit was picked just days ahead of the snow. On the nose, the 2020 Cuvee aux Antipodes Pinot Noir is gently reductive but layered with lashings of black cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, mulberry and a hint of tapenade. In the mouth, the wine is complex but sedate; it needs time, as it’s tightly wound and coiled for now. The complexity and length of flavor are surefire signs that this wine is destined for great things. For now, if you're planning on opening a bottle, be sure you decant it. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 10 barrels only. The 2020 Cuvee aux Antipodes Pinot Noir is just now on the market and is current release. 93+ Robert Parker.com
Prophet’s Rock know that great wines begin in the vineyard. That’s why they embrace an approach to winemaking that shares the splendour of the place rather than pronounced winemaking characteristics. The result Iconic wines that invoke Central Otago’s striking, unforgettable beauty.
Roll over: The pride of Tasmania
This wine is true to the Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir style: intensely aromatic, medium bodied with savoury spice notes, along with purity of varietal expression, fresh acidity and ripe tannins.
Roll over: One of the pioneering Martinborough wineries, Dry River has the advantage of having a decent proportion of older vines.
Darker notes of oak, oak bark and toasted cumin and coriander spices contrast with lifted fruits of cassis, blood orange, raspberry, and cherries. Then there are the grounding aromatics by way of freshly cut barley straw, nutmeg, and fresh thyme. It reminds me a little bit of the 2010 vintage, with its cooler finish that showed interesting contrasts of aromatics.
We have seen a lively and fresh acidity in the 2020 white wines, which also shows in the Pinot Noir. It gives clear direction, drive, and tension - verging on that dissonance mentioned earlier - and shows the lines over the length of the palate, accentuating the fine tannins and leaving little “space” for the depth and concentration of the fruit to show. Don’t be fooled, the fruit is there. The wine just needs a bit of time to show its generosity and warmth, something we all seem to crave at the moment. - Dry River
Roll over: Prophet’s flagship Pinot Noir – their no compromise obsession.
The 2022 Home Vineyard Pinot Noir is possessed of a most exciting display of red fruits and ductile tannin in concert. The tannins have a much closer, more densely packed feeling than the unfurling/spooling Olearia. There’s pomegranate, red and black cherry, licorice, star anise and even a hint of cumin seed. It's a wonderful wine that I know from experience benefits from a decant, which allows the fruit to stretch its legs, so to speak. Supple, throaty and full but not big. Still composure. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 94+Robert Parker.com
Prophet’s Rock know that great wines begin in the vineyard. That’s why they embrace an approach to winemaking that shares the splendour of the place rather than pronounced winemaking characteristics. The result Iconic wines that invoke Central Otago’s striking, unforgettable beauty.
Roll over: All the Amen Break wines are made with minimal winemaker intervention and a healthy dose of soul.
Amen Break are by brothers Matt and Steve Harrop.
We work with the rhythm of each vintage to find fruit that best expresses the season. Our Pinot Noir was grown at Zebra Vineyard on the northern elevations of the Bendigo area in Central Otago.
All the Amen Break wines are made with minimal winemaker intervention and a healthy dose of soul. To that we say Amen, Brother.
The Amen Break is a legendary six second, four bar drum solo performed by Gregory Sylvester “G. C.”. Coleman in the song “Amen, Brother” performed by the 1960s funk and soul outfit The Winstons.
The Amen Break has become the most sampled drum beat in musical history. It is considered the foundation rhythmic beat for the much of the electronic musical genre (Trip Hop, Drum ’n Bass, Jungle, Psych Trance etc.) that exploded in the late 80’s and early 90s of last century.
Roll over: Looking for the finest grapes with which to craft the finest wines, Albert Bichot has gradually bought vineyards in the most sought-after locations in Burgundy.
Domaines Albert Bichot is a leading family-owned and run negociant house and estate owner in Burgundy, formed in 1831 and now based in the town of Beaune. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape varieties are unsurprisingly the main focus; the company also produces red wines from the Gamay grape in Beaujolais to the south.
Roll over: Looking for the finest grapes with which to craft the finest wines, Albert Bichot has gradually bought vineyards in the most sought-after locations in Burgundy.
Domaines Albert Bichot is a leading family-owned and run negociant house and estate owner in Burgundy, formed in 1831 and now based in the town of Beaune. The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape varieties are unsurprisingly the main focus; the company also produces red wines from the Gamay grape in Beaujolais to the south.
Roll over: Looking for the finest grapes with which to craft the finest wines, Albert Bichot has gradually bought vineyards in the most sought-after locations in Burgundy.
A rich swath of black cherry, rose and oak spice aromas and flavors marks this opulent red. Backed by vibrant acidity and well-integrated tannins, this ends in a cascade of fruit and spice. Very silky and harmonious. Best from 2021 through 2038. Wine Spectator 93points
Roll over: This is an elegant and immensely pleasurable vintage.
"Our old vines are over 35 years old and produce an exceptionally intense and aromatic wine that reflects the unique character of its terroir. With its deep, clear ruby red hue, it reveals notes of black fruits and excellent strength and concentration. As with all Gevrey-Chambertin, it requires a few years of patience before reaching its full potential." - Domaine Faiveley
Roll over: A monopole of Domaine Faiveley
Deeper-pitched and more brooding than the more ethereal Framboisière, Faiveley's 2020 Mercurey 1er Cru Clos des Myglands delivers aromas of ripe cherries, berries, licorice, bitter chocolate and spices. Medium to full-bodied, rich and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit and powdery tannins, it will demand a bit of patience this year. William Kelley robertparker.com
Roll over: Mid cherry red. Scented with red fruits and very slightly stemmy. A touch of vanilla sweetness too. Jancis Robinson.com
These old vines are over 35 years old and produce an exceptionally intense and aromatic wine that reflects the unique character of its terroir. With its deep, clear ruby red hue, it reveals notes of black fruits and excellent strength and concentration.
"The nose is elegant, and racy and offers a certain power. It reveals notes of boysenberry, violet, and more slightly – notes of bright wild berries associated with touches of smoke, pepper, bright black plum as well as hints of spice, camphor and a subtle almost saline note. The palate is fruity and offers juiciness, minerality, a tangy frame, a nice freshness, subtlety, a certain straightness (all in elegance), harmony, finesse, tension as well as a nice delicate touch on the palate. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/creamy blackberry, juicy/tangy blackcurrant, and more slightly – notes of pulpy raspberry associated with touches of cornflower, violet, juicy/tangy cherry as well as slight hints of small tangy/bright blue fruits, vanilla, toast and nutmeg. The tannins are soft and elegant. Good length." - 93/100, VertdeVin
Roll over: Chanson Pere & Fils en Bourgogne (Domaine Chanson) is a wine producer and négociant based in the central Burgundian town of Beaune
Moderate wood frames fresh and ripe aromas of plum, black raspberry, pretty floral and just turned earth. The delicious and impressively intense middle weight flavors possess a really lovely mouthfeel if not quite the same power on the harmonious, firm and built-to-age finish where the only nit is a touch of warmth. Promising. 91-93 Burghound
Roll over: Chanson Pere & Fils en Bourgogne (Domaine Chanson) is a wine producer and négociant based in the central Burgundian town of Beaune
Rich and sweet palate entry and then quite firm but in good balance, though there is some toughness on the end at present. Jancis Robinson.com
Roll over: Chanson Pere & Fils en Bourgogne (Domaine Chanson) is a wine producer and négociant based in the central Burgundian town of Beaune
Neat, composed, non-showy nose. Attractive stoniness and freshness with some fine tannin but there is energy here rather than just ripeness. Very juicy and fine-boned. Jancis Robinson.com
Roll over: This carefully cellared reserve wine is only released a minimum of five years after harvest.
Prophet’s Rock know that great wines begin in the vineyard. That’s why they embrace an approach to winemaking that shares the splendour of the place rather than pronounced winemaking characteristics. The result Iconic wines that invoke Central Otago’s striking, unforgettable beauty.
