Red Wine
New Zealand
About This Wine...
‘Elegant, aromatic Pinot Noir, low on oak and tannin. With its cherry and berry fruit, it is the perfect foil for fish in rich sauces.’ writes Martin Moran in the Sunday Times of 11th June (a special fish focussed edition of the magazine with that week’s paper).
The Vineyard
We visited the majority of wineries in Martinborough in February 2012 and were bowled over by the intensity and excellence of the wines we have listed. Larry McKenna, director and winemaker, commonly known as ‘McPinot’ is a legend with a solid reputation for getting the best out of Pinot Noir. The soil around Escarpment is deep alluvial and the planting of vines is high density. High leaf to fruit ratio, combined with warm, dry summers, produce wines of exceptional power and style. Three of the Escarpment wines are listed amongst July 2012 Decanter Magazine’s Top 10 New Zealand Pinot Noirs.
Wine Maker’s Notes
Perfect weather in Martinborough during flowering in December 2009 resulted in an ideal crop which required extensive thinning (green harvest). A normal warm dry summer followed creating the distinctive Escarpment style showing complexity, attractive texture and the perfect mix of black, red and green fruit flavours for which Pinot Noir is celebrated. The fruit was hand harvested, then gently handled without pumping until it was pressed. Hand plunged every 2 hours then left to macerate on skins for an average vat time of 18 days. It has been aged completely in French oak barriques, of which 30% were new, for 11 months.
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