2013 was described by a winemaker friend as a “Goldilocks” season – not too hot, not too cold; not too dry and not too wet…. Just right! Such conditions have imbued the Pinot Noir with an incredible sense of balance, harmony and togetherness. After just 3 months in the bottle this is not the kind of teenager who wears his cap backwards and hangs around in the town square after dark – this is the well-adjusted lad who will be found handing round the guacamole at his parent’s 20th wedding anniversary.

This wine will make friends easily with a gleam of bright garnet behind its flashy smile. The nose is all get up and go with potent brambly fruit reminiscent of an autumn bush-bash to a remote trout pool on the upper Tongariro. Aged quince jelly, soft liquorice allsorts and a malty sweetness dance with squishy blackberry aromas then give way intriguingly to sticky dried prune, broken wood and finely ground nutmeg. Moreish notes of salted brittle caramel chocolate combine with slightly more dangerous hints of the bilge water found in an old land-locked clinker-built kauri sailing dingy.

The palate is as thick and full as a stockpot of boysenberry jam in a rolling boil on a cottage stovetop yet this slippery smoothness is draped over an auspiciously sinewy frame; kind of like Matthew McConaughey in a tuxedo. The acidity is barely perceptible along the cheeks yet cinches the wine together like the never-fail blood knot on a 5lb nylon tippet. Tannins with a consistency of finely ground pumice give the wine a deceptively persuasive edge while crisp oven roasted kumara and freshly ground coffee beans lend a polyhedral quality. Some deep earthy note, derived perhaps from 6 feet under, bring a drying lift to the finish which lingers long after swallowing. More streetwise than precocious, there is certainly no hurry for this wine and it will provide a cognitive drop over the next 10 years.

Technical Information:

Harvest date: 26 Mar - 19 Apr 2013
Brix at Harvest: 23.2 –24.8
Final Alcohol: 13.1%
pH: 3.44
Total Acidity: 5.62
Residual Sugar: Nil
Bottling Date: 15 Oct 2014
Release Date: 1 Jan 2015
Cellaring: 2 to 9 years

For tasting notes from previous vintages contact kate@margrainvineyard.co.nz

* By using the BUY ONLINE button below you confirm that you are at least 18 years old.