This wine was grown on the Cleland Vineyard Cambridge Street, Martinborough from 25 years old vines. A combination of deep alluvial gravels which the Martinborough Terraces are renowned for and a blend of Clones UCD 5,6 and 13 always rewards us with savoury, complex and spicy wine.

It was open topped fermented in traditional wooded cuves, hand plunged every 8 hours, with a total vat time of 16 days. After pressing it was matured in 30% new French oak barriques for 12 months. It was fined using a minimum of egg whites to protect the flavours but aid brightness in the glass, promoting soft mouth feel and texture.

This is an outstanding example of classic Pinot Noir. It will continue to develop for up to 10 years and will always be a wonderful counterpart to any game food.

Big pinot noir ruby,  some velvet,  the deepest and oldest looking of these Escarpment top pinots,  approaching the Dry River pinot noir in depth,  but not hue – this is older.  Bouquet in this wine is deeper,  darker,  riper and somewhat less floral than my top wines,  but fragrance of bouquet develops in glass,  and is augmented by trace brett at a positive level.  Fruit is still black cherry,  but bottled black doris aromas are creeping in,  all complexed with some oak and a touch of barrel toast.  In many ways,  therefore,  this is a more complex wine than the pure varietal Voyager and Kupe,  and could be said to be more European in style.  It is very ripe,  though.  Fruit weight is exemplary – as noted previously,  we must rejoice that in New Zealand we are finally seeing red wines with a dry extract of 30 g/L,  bespeaking a true grand cru cropping rate.  It needs several years for the oak tannins to marry into the fruit,  and will cellar 5 – 15 years.  18.5 Points; Geoff Kelly Wine Reviews  03/08