AKARUA PINOT NOIR 2023

Gold Medal – The National Wine Awards Aotearoa New Zealand 2024

Akarua are consistently one of Central Otago’s top performers when it comes to Pinot Noir. Formerly owned by Sir Clifford and Lady Mary Skeggs, who started Akarua back in 1995, but more recently sold to iconic French wine producer Edmond de Rothschild Heritage.

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Medium purple with crimson hues. Expressive and fragrant showing pretty florals, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, thyme, spice and charry oak. The palate is sweet on entry with dark cherry, black Doris plum, blackberry, red currant, mushroom and dark chocolate. Medium bodied, concentrated, finely balanced and very complex. Velvety silky fine tannin that leads into a very long mineral and plum finish.

Carefully hand harvested grapes were batch fermented. Mostly destemmed with 15% of whole cluster component averaged across the batches. Fermented on skins for around three weeks. The resulting wine was gently pressed to French oak barrels for maturation. 25% new, 10 months."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, October 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"A richly coloured appearance with hues of dark ruby red and purple leading to a bouquet of baking spices and earth framing fruits of dark raspberry and black cherry, some black currant and thyme. Youthful, firm, dry, ripe, fruity and varietal with flavours that mirror the bouquet and Otago. Tannins have a nice grip of youth and with the acidity frame the core fruits of dark berries and spice perfectly. Delicious, fresh and ready to drink from day of purchase, though the ideal window is 2027 through 2037."