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Tasting Notes
From McCreanor vineyard with 27-year-old vines on slightly heavier soils and all clone AM 10/5. Hand harvested, fermented with ambient yeast. Total maceration time c 17 days with hand-plunging in open-top wooden fermenters. Aged in French oak for 18 months, 30% new. TA 5.2 g/l, pH 3.61. More immediate oak impact and vanilla-laced sweetness on the nose but also a slight cedary/herbaceous character – the whole-bunch effect (at least 50%, apparently)? Like the Escarpment regional blend, this has a lovely dry finesse in that chalky texture and a fresh purity that leaves your mouth feeling clean. Almost a volcanic dustiness. The Pinot equivelent of Chablis? May 2016, www.jancisrobinson.com, Drink: 2016-2022
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Jancis Robinson MW
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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.