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Tasting notes
Medium ruby-purple colored, the 2014 Pahi Pinot Noir reveals an earthy/musk perfume-laced character over a core of red currants and cranberries plus hints of stewed tea, fallen leaves and twigs. Medium-bodied, elegant and with a good backbone of chewy tannins, it is restrained and understated, finishing with earth nuances.
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Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
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? (JH)
(from 27-year-old vines; Larry McKenna bottles his single-vineyard wines the old-fashioned way: with corks): Deep red with ruby tones. More anise and herbs on the nose than the basic bottling, along with raspberry and a hint of fresh dill. Broad, sweet and fine-grained, with the enticing raspberry fruit component complicated by herbs, spices, earth and minerals. Really spreads out to dust the palate without leaving any impression of weight. Finishes with a youthful edge and noteworthy energy. This essentially generous wine is kept firm in the early going by its stem component.
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
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.