Wairarapa Wine Pinot Noir Selection 2024 Vintage

“The 2024 season will be remembered as one of clarity and composure….The wine in this selection reflect the season's strengths: purity of fruit, fine structure, and a quiet sense of ease”.

The above quote comes from the catalogue that accompanied the 12 bottles that arrived just a few weeks ago, now settled and ready taste. I love this initiative as it showcases a selection of wine that reveal a snapshot of the vintage and a selection of producers who ‘love’ Pinot Noir working hard to capture those moments where it shines and will develop into something beautiful as it ages.

Thank you to wine experts: Stephen Wong MW (Master of Wine), Larry McKenna WL (Wine Legend) and Haidee Johnson FWM (Fantastic Wine Maker) and all others involved in the selection process.

The Wines

Craggy Range 'Aroha' Pinot Noir 2024, Te Muna: A delicious wine with a heart of fruit purity and a sense of regionality then site. An enticing bouquet of dark berries and wild flowers, purple berries then spices of earth and oak. Complex and intriguing. A dry wine touches the palate soaking it with flavours of dark cherries and boysenberry, layers of wood smoke and spices then a silty fragrant soil quality. Taut and youthful still, concentrated and flush with red fruit flavours. There’s a light chalk-dust feel to the tannins and with a decent structure from the acidity and wood this wine has all the elements to age and develop. Well made, lengthy and in keeping with the Craggy prestige portfolio. Best from 2029 through 2036+. 95 Points – Outstanding - RRP from $200.00

Moy Hall ‘Dunrobin’ Pinot Noir 2024: An enticing and appealing bouquet of ripeness, intensity and freshness, layers of earth-smoke from red clay and stone then crushed roses and wood spices. Taut and dry, a wine of mouthfeel and intentional textures from polished tannins and a backbone of acidity delivering a tautness and power. Flavours of dark berries from cherry to boysenberry, baked plum and and more floral moments. Well made, youthful and requiring some cellar time with best drinking from 2029 through 2036+.

94 Points - Excellent - RRP from $45.00

Hidden Vineyard 2024, Martinborough: Ripe and pure fruited bouquet with an energy spike from the burst of fruit at the core with boysenberry and plum then layers of old strawberry and lees, a whisper of positive reduction and a mix of floral soil suggestions. Dry, taut, focused and youthful with a tension and poise from the tannins and acid line with core fruit flavours favouring strawberry then boysenberry. Firm tannins and backbone of acidity frame this wine very nicely. The layer of wood and soft smoky qualities deliver complexity and quality to the wine and not a feature. Well made and still knitting together with best drinking from 2030 through 2040. 94 Points - Excellent - RRP from $54.00

Martinborough Vineyard ‘Home Block’ Pinot Noir 2024: A fantastic expression with a bouquet of fresh and dried roses, black cherry and Doris plums then layers of earth and wood-smoke from red clay and stones to baking spices of nutmeg and clove. Intriguing yet familiar, youthful yet showcasing older vines perfumes and concentration. Dry, still taut and with lots of poise to reflect on the textures from finely polished tannins to a pert acid line. Core fruit flavours mirror the bouquet with a complexity and charm that is both the Martinborough vineyard style as much as it is a reflection of site and vintage. Lengthy and delicious with best drinking from 2030 through 2040. 95 Points -Outstanding - RRP from $60.00

Kusuda Pinot Noir 2024, Martinborough: A fantastic wine of finesse and charm, perfumed and precise, elegant and intriguing. Aromas and flavours of flowers then ripe red berries of cherry to pure boysenberry and dark strawberry then a finesse of oak. Earth-smoke of mineral, silty soils and dark clay then lees build on the palate with each new taste. Dry with very fine tannins, a delicate chalk texture and gentle surge of acidity frame the berry and fruit flavours. Lengthy and delicious, a wine of charm and pinosity, style and power. Best drinking from 2029 through 2039. 96 Points - Outstanding - RRP from $152.00

Urlar Gladstone Pinot Noir, 2024: A lovely wine, scents of dark berries and plum, barrel and fruits spices, savoury and dried herb suggestions then a silty fine stone soil-smoke invades the bouquet as the wine begins to open out in glass. A dry wine with finely polished tannins, plenty of acidity and earthy wild forest berry flavours. Taut and dry, an abundance of texture and mouthfeel, chalky moments and plenty of fruit. Lengthy with best drinking from 2028 through 2034+. 94 Points-Excellent-RRP from $65.00

The Elder ‘Aburn’ Pinot Noir 2024, Martinborough: Aromas an flavours of a ripe and intense varietal and fruity wine with a bouquet of flowers of rose and dark cherry, there’s gentle yet obvious savoury-earthy quality with a clay soil quality. Boysenberry and plum, dark cherry then oak. A dry, salivating and tasty wine built on texture and varietal fruit flavours, baking spice and mineral, layers of sweet wood spices of clove and vanilla, a whisper of bacon and red meat then fruit and wood tannins, medium+ acid ;line and lengthy finish. Nicely engaging, lengthy and ready to drink early 2027 through 2034+.

95 Points - Outstanding- RRP from $75.00

Huntress Pinot Noir 'Pawero 2024', Martinborough: ‘Pawero’ in te Reo Maori means to interlace or interweave. A wonderful expression of Pinot Noir with fragrances place then fruit, landscape then soil, lees and a light red berry fruits and a delicate reductive ambience. A satin touch on the palate leads to flavours of plums, strawberry and cherry then rose and forest spices. Flavours mirror the bouquet with an abundance of fine tannins and acidity. Taut and delicious, still developing with best drinking from 2027 through 2033+. 95 Points-Excellent-RRP from $70.00

Palliser Estate ‘Hua Nui’ Pinot Noir 2024, Martinborough: Hues of dark ruby and purple lead to a bouquet of power and concentration, and intrigue. Black cherry skin and plum, layers of boysenberry with blackcurrant then wild raspberry, baking spices and silty loamy soil ideas. Taut and dry, a youthful energy and poise with layers of fine tannins and acidity framing core fruit flavours that mirror the bouquet plus dark rose and clove, some wood smoke and a reductive leesy youthful energy. Polished tannins are in abundance, there’s a silky note as the wine touches the palate. Fantastic example with complexity, poise and length. Best from 2027 through 2037. 96 Points-Outstanding-RRP from $118.00

Cambridge Road Pinot Noir, Family Farmed, 2024, Martinborough: Unfined and unfiltered “with a love of neutral oak”, a first class wine with minimalist interventions showcases a bouquet of wild forest berries, dark plums and savoury dried herb complexities. Scents of silty dark clays and natural fruit spices, complex and youthful. A lovely dry wine touches the palate with a firm tautness and hold, then once the palate starts dissolving the tannins and counterbalancing the acid line the flavours of wild berries and dried herb wrapped in red berry fruits begin to unleash. Dry, well made focused and lengthy, a delicious wine that just won’t stop giving. I love it! Best drinking from 2030 through 2040+. 96 Points-Outstanding-RRP from $120.00

Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2024, Martinborough: This is a stellar wine, taut and locked-up yet revealing just enough power and plenty of concentration to show that you should be buying a dozen (frankly more is better) to lay down and consider opening the first bottle in 2030 - just to check. A completely delicious and seductive bouquet suggesting myriad red berries framed by echoes of dried herb and soil then wood smoke and nut, an ever-so-gentle reductive seam and flinty moment. Pure, dry, ripe and complex. A wine that repeats its story, like a a great- movie where you notice something different each time you watch it. Complex, lengthy and delicious, a wine for 2031 through 2041+. 97 Points-Outstanding-RRP from $90.00

Oraterra Pinot Noir 2024, Martinborough: Powerful, exquisite bouquet, stacked with fruit and complexity, A bouquet of complexity and depth whilst exuding messages of red berries and spice, a layer of smoke and plenty of earth scents of stone and some ruddy clay ideas. Taut and youthful with a definitive palate squeeze, a showcase core fruit concentration, layers of textures from an abundance of tannins and acidity, Dark boysenberry and cherry fruits framed by firm yet polished tannins and backbone of acidity. A wine of ripeness and length. Best drinking from 2030 through 2039+. 95 Points, Outstanding-RRP from $90.00