Maori Point Pinot Noir is a full bodied expression of the hero red grape of Central Otago and named after a bend on the Mata-Au (also known as the Clutha River) where M?ori prospectors panned for gold in the 1860s.

The wine brand is owned by two families who grow the grapes and employ experienced winemakers in the region to produce their wines. The philosophy of the owners is to produce high quality wines made from hand picked grapes from vineyard sites with low yields, using wild yeast fermentations, minimal sulphur additions and using sustainable practices as much as possible. This is their quest and the wines are elegant renditions of Otago's edgy climate with its hot summer days and cool seasons on both sides of ripening. 

Appealingly aromatic, this Pinot Noir reveals notes of Morello cherry and bramble ont he nose. On the palate - fine, silky tannins and juicy acidity provide an elegant structure, with complexity coming from gentle toast and woodsmoke characters.

Sam Neill’s latest Pinot Noir is youthful, bright, boldly fruity with firm tannic structure and the ability to age, all of which makes it a good contender for decanting prior to enjoying right now. It’s a complex and interesting Pinot Noir as a blend of Neill’s four small certified organic Central Otago vineyards with 37% from The Fusilier Vineyard in Bannockburn, 7% from the elevated, cool climate of The Last Chance Vineyard in Earnscleugh, Alexandra, 40% from The Red Bank Farm & Vineyard and 22% from The First Paddock in Gibbston. All grapes were hand picked, 54% destemmed and all fermented with wild yeasts. The wine was given 10 months aging in French oak, 18 per cent new. It’s a very good wine and will reward further cellaring.

This is a beautifully silky smooth Central Otago Pinot Noir made entirely from estate grown fruit at a small vineyard in Bendigo, one of the warmest corners (and often the first to harvest) in Central Otago. This wine comes from one of the driest, most settled vintages, weather-wise, in the past five years, and those qualities translate through to an intensely aromatic Pinot, driven by fresh floral notes and ripe dark cherry flavours in a silky textured wine. This wine is great value and super tasty.

The name Ballasalla comes from a village on the Isle of Man where one of the winery's founders, Tim Kerruish, was born. 

This wine is made from Mt Maude Vineyard at the base of Mt Maude in Wanaka, a one hectare site planted at 400 metres elevation and where the grapes are grown without irrigation. This family owned site was planted in three Pinot Noir clones 667, 777 and 115. The wine is made without whole clusters in the ferment and with 18 days of maceration by winemakers Sarah Kate and Dan Dineen. 

It tastes silky, structured, sensitively balanced, long and fresh with great depth of secondary savoury earthy spice flavours married with red fruit and complex notes that will definitely develop further over time, evolving positively. All grapes in this wine were hand harvested and the name Kids Block refers to the owners - Dawn and Terry Wilson?s grandchildren. A row of vines was planted for each grandchild, all planted in 2000 and all in different Dijon Pinot Noir clones. 

Greystone is one of North Canterbury's wine stars situated on the slopes of limestone rich hills in Omihi. All of the grapes that go into Greystone wines are 100% certified organic with BioGro NZ and all are estate grown. No additional fruit is purchased to supplement production, which is one of many incremental steps that go into Greystone's high quality wines. 

This impressive Pinot Noir is the top of the Pinot tree at Greystone. It's made from fully destemmed whole berries which were cold macerated and fermented with wild yeasts, 25% of the wine having been fermented in small tanks amongst the vines, which ensures a completely wild vineyard yeast fermentation. The wine is bottled without fining, filtration or cold stabilisation.

It drinks well now but will reward those with patience to wait for it to develop further with age and has the potential to evolve positively for up to a decade, if kept in good conditions. 

Certified organic with BioGro NZ.

About Greystone

The Greystone wine story began in 2000 when the Thomas Family bought an old sheep farm on the Omihi hills in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The rolling limestone hills lured this family in and their goal was a single minded one: to make great wines from the limestone rich soils here. Fast forward 20 years and Greystone is one of the great (and, some might say, yet to be fully discovered) wineries in this outstanding wine region. Not least due to the work of winemaker Dom Maxwell and general manager Nick Gill, who began working together in 2005 and has grown along with the brand and quality. 

Earthy flavours and velvety texture make this impressive Pinot Noir one of the best from Martinborough and it comes from one of the region's first three wineries - Martinborough Vineyards.

Te Tera is made from Martinborough Vineyards? more youthful vines, which range between nine and 24 years old from a vineyard south of Martinborough village but within the region's stony wine 'terrace' appellation. This vineyard, situated on Frater's Road, produces grapes that lend deep aromatic flavours of dark cherries,  dried herbs and spices, all of which instantly grab your attention on the nose of this elegant Pinot Noir. The palate shows soft, rich fruit flavours with a hint of spice. 

The grapes in this wine were 100% destemmed and fermented with wild yeasts in open top tanks for approximately three weeks. Hand plunging is followed by gentle pressing to barrels for 10 months aging on lees in French oak, 15% of it new. 

This is a lovely wine that consistently delivers rewarding rich flavours held in a smooth silky texture. 

Pinot Noir is the jewel in the crown of the evocatively named Mount Beautiful Wines and this producer makes several different styles.

This is the signature wine, made in the highest volumes and from a very different vintage; 2018, which was warmer, more humid and earlier than any other year on record with hand harvesting of the grapes starting 10 days earlier than usual on 21 March. For the 2018 vintage, 100% of the grapes were destemmed and the wine was gently plunged twice daily. This PInot Noir was aged in French oak, 20% new, for 11 months.

It's a ripe, fruit driven Pinot Noir with earthy flavours and represents great value for money.

Complex, dry, savoury and sophisticated Pinot Noir; consistently one of the best from Central Otago. This wine is an outstanding expression of cool climate Pinot and is 100% certified organic made from two vineyards with approximately 75% of the grapes from Pisa with the balance coming from Muirkirk Vineyard on Felton Road in Bannockburn. A star. Drinks well now and is a keeper for at least four to five years, over which time it will evolve into an even more layered wine. 

This exciting Alexandra Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown on warm, north facing slopes across the Clutha River from Alexandra township on Earnscleugh Road on a site that was known for the early establishment of grape vines in the 1870s during the goldrush. It's the area of Central Otago that most attracted the shareholders, a group of friends who collectively own the vineyard and Grasshopper Rock wine brand.

Pinot Noir is the only wine they produce and theirs has a history of exceptionally elegant aging, thanks to its high acidity (a direct expression of the cool climate here) and its savoury, earthy flavours as it develops in the bottle.

This wine drinks beautifully now and has a long life ahead, for those with willpower. 

The Main Divide is the name of the majestic Southern Alps, which form the back bone of the South Island, and it is also the name of a range of great value wines which consistently over deliver on depth of flavour and complexity for the price. 

This Pinot Noir is made 100% from North Canterbury grapes, 25% of which were whole bunch fermented with natural yeasts. The wine was given a week long, post ferment maceration in French oak, approximately 20% new.

It's a weighty, earthy style with lively dark and red fruit flavours. It delivers big time for the money.

Central Otago Pinot Noir is one of New Zealand's great wine success stories, especially when it comes from the sun drenched rocky soils of Bannockburn, one of the great sub regions of this majestic area. 

The Mysterious Diggings Vineyard in Bannockburn is on the site of a former gold mine and is a dry, fruit driven and smooth Central Otago Pinot with an accessible price.

This carefully cellared reserve wine is only released a minimum of five years after harvest.  It represents a tiny selection from their Home Vineyard, grown and made to showcase their unique site with the benefit of time.  

Home vineyard is located on a high-elevation, steep glacial terrace in the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago.  This stunning site has clay and pedogenic limestone soil, featuring schist and quartz.  

Handpicked, small batch fermented, and barrel aged in French oak,
the Gold River Pinot Noir offers exceptional quality and typicity at a good price.

The grapes are from a mix of vineyards found in Bendigo (57%), Pisa (32%) and Gibbston (11%). Fruit from these three subregions was fermented in small 5 tonne open top fermenters. Typical maceration was 21-24 days before pressing. The
wines went through MLF in barrel, and spent 9 months in French oak.

The Gold River Pinot Noir expresses fragrant red and dark fruit aromas, and a complex balance of fruit and spice on the palate.

This wine will drink well in its youth but will comfortably handle 3-5 years in the cellar.

#N/A