NEW ZEALAND


ESCARPMENT PAHI PINOT NOIR 2008


(MARTINBOROUGH)


New Zealand pinot noir legend Larry McKenna established Escarpment Vineyard in 1999 following 14 vintages at Martinborough Vineyard where he played a seminal role in putting New Zealand (and Martinborough) on the world pinot map. Still leading the way, McKenna released a small cluster of wines with the 2006 vintage that he called the ‘Insight Series’. His motivation was to “start defining the Martinborough terroir with wines that allow for individual vineyard expression.” At present, five wines make up the Insight Series, of which Pahi is one. It is made from fruit grown on the McCreanor Vineyard on Princess Street in the Martinborough township, a plot that is intriguing in a number of ways. One is the age of the vines, which were 27 years old at the 2008 vintage. The vineyard is also planted in a single clone, 10/5, and all the vines are on their own roots. The result is a fascinating pinot with genuine poise and rare structural finesse.


FELTON ROAD CALVERT PINOT NOIR 2008


(BANNOCKNURN, CENTRAL OTAGO)


The Calvert Vineyard is at the centre of one of the most intriguing sub-plots in the New Zealand Pinot story. Felton Road leases the site, which is situated across the road from the winery’s home vineyard in Central Otago’s Bannockburn sub-region, and manages it according to the biodynamic principles to which the winery is closely attached. From 2006 Felton Road has shared each Calvert harvest with two other ‘Pinot confrères’, Pyramid Valley and Craggy Range. Each winery receives a parcel with an identical mix of the seven clones that make up the vineyard, from which it makes a single vineyard wine. Intriguingly, each of these three Calvert Pinots are different. The Felton Road Calvert is typically dark-fruited with a lithe, sensual structure.


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