Vineyard: Escaroth Vineyard
Subregion: Taylor Pass
Region: Marlborough
Vintage: 2020
Soil Type: Low-vigour ancient clays
Clone: Dijon clones 777 and 115
Viticulture: Dry-farmed and Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Growers: Andy and Kyna Laurie
Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) Certified
Winemaker's Notes:
Escaroth Vineyard is a site that truly reflects vintage variation: this year's release simply ticks all the boxes for Pinot Noir fanatics. It has a beguiling, complex perfume that treads both red/blue fruit and an enchanting spice, game and earthy savouriness. The very low-yielding vintage (4.6 t/ha) coupled with the dry-farmed nature of the site has resulted in incredible concentration and intensity.
2020 was the second drought year in a trio (2019 - 2021), all of which demanded the use of whole-bunch to ensure balanced extraction and lifted aromatics. The result is a very complex, savoury Pinot Noir with a structured yet elegant tannin framework. As this wine is bottled without filtration, a small amount of natural sediment may form with time.
Reviews:
5 STARS ***** "Already very expressive, the 2020 vintage (5*) was hand-harvested from 19 year-old vines at Taylor Pass, in the Southern Valleys, and matured for a year in French oak barriques. Bright ruby, it is a refined, complex wine, very savoury and supple, with deep, ripe cherry, plum and spice flavours, finely integrated oak, and a silky-textured, very harmonious finish. Best drinking 2025+." Michael Cooper, February 2023
94 Points "Elegant, textural pinot noir with cherry/berry, violet, brambles/grape stems and mixed spice flavours. Supple, high energy wine with latent complexity that needs a little bottle age to reveal. Drinking Window 2023–2031" Bob Campbell MW, December 2022
94 Points "There’s a unique quality about the bouquet of this wine with a soft floral scents and heirloom red berry fruit fragrances with a fine lightly toasted wood quality and most importantly - a sense of place and time. Youthful and complex. Textures from tannins, wood and acidity touch the palate first with a savoury quality before the flavours of red berries, plums, flowers and red currant. Taut and textured with a youthful energy and drive. Best drinking from mid to late 2024 through 2030+. Keen to try this wine again then." Cameron Douglas MS
