2011 Te Rehua
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Tasting notes
From the Barton vineyard on alluvial gravels, many clones, high-density planting. Hand harvested, fermented with ambient yeast. Fermented with hand-plunging in open-top wooden fermenters. Aged in French oak. Very subtle and that same darker fruit character of the 2014 Te Rehua. Rocky, so dry and paper-fine texture. Like the other 2011s, I find this a little lean but it is on the cusp between austere and elegant. Juicy and refined, tipping over into elegance. (JH)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2011 Te Rehua Pinot Noir is another town-based, single vineyard wine made from a mix of all clones available in New Zealand in the early 1990s when it was planted. It is pale to medium-deep ruby in color and is a little closed though it reveals earthy, delicate red fruits along with some lavender nuances. On the rather delicate, medium-bodied palate, there is just enough fruit poking through a frame of low-level, grainy tannins to carry it through a long finish. Drink it 2014 to 2019+. Larry McKenna is a man of vision and hard graft, and these attributes show in his very impressive wines. Originally from Australia, he left Roseworthy College in South Australia in 1976 and never looked back. Pinot must have got under his skin when he hit New Zealand, where spent he spent 13 years building the quality and reputation of Martinborough Vineyard’s Pinot before striking out for the then-undeveloped “Upper Terraces” off Te Muna Road in 1999, where he established a vineyard and also developed his own ground-breaking style from unique vineyards on the town’s escarpment. The Kupe Vineyard in particular has incredible promise and potential, densely planted to Able Clone (NZ’s “gum boot” clone, which is thought to have originated from DRC) on the Te Muna site. McKenna also makes some very good single vineyard expressions from vineyards on the terrace in the town, naming the wines after the vineyards: Kiwa, Pahi and Te Rehua. Importer: Empson USA Inc., Alexandria, VA; tel. (703) 684-0900; Fax (703) 684-2065
About the producer
Based in Martinborough, Escarpment is one of New Zealand’s leading producers of Pinot Noir. The estate’s top cuvée Kupe is widely regarded as a benchmark example of the region’s potential for producing world-class Pinot Noir.