AKITU A2 PINOT NOIR 2021

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"Fresh and lifted with warm spice and gentle fruit expression. Complex earthy humitic detail across fresh red cherry and subtle smoked herbs, graphite, and mineral dust. Vivid, lifted and perfumed fruit with a charming rose petal dimension – almost festive. Deep fresh fruit of plum and cherry. Complexity set well with the bright fruit and some brown spice rack. There’s a subtle hint of Negroni amongst the whole bunch perfume.

Fresh and very succulent – a lovely plush entry with dark cherry and subtle smoky herb complexity with graphite. Long and deep with cherry pips, real core and depth but open knit. Polished and gentle tannins flow over silky acid – generous. Great volume with no hint of heaviness – excellent approachability even celebratory.

There is no need to be bashful, this wine is made to be enjoyed fresh and free.  When the founder specified this cuvee he said “Let’s make a wine that you don’t need to write about or study – let’s just make something that’s truly delicious. Moorish”.  Mission accomplished.

Food – BBQ beef burger with Al Brown’s Old Yella Habanero Mustard – try it a little chilled."

97/100 & Discovery Red, Susie Barrie MW & Peter Richards MW (UK), Susie & Peter New Zealand Wines of the Year 2026 (2021 Vintage)
"Akitu is a label we’ve admired for a while. Founder Andrew Donaldson dedicates his entire production to Pinot Noir and sustainability is central to his approach – perhaps inspired by the stunning surroundings of his Wanaka vineyard, which covers 12 hectares of pristine, picture-perfect landscape at 380 metres altitude in Central Otago. The site lends itself to elegant yet complex Pinot – both the A1 (see below) and A2 come highly recommended. The A1 is nominally the more serious and ageworthy wine, the A2 typically more accessible (Andrew talks of its, ‘gay abandon’). So how come this A2 is our Discovery Red? Simply because it’s well worth discovering, especially given its more affordable price point (in the context), and particularly because of its endearingly outlandish, gloriously wild style. We went back to both the A1 and the A2 repeatedly while tasting – but this wine just continued to sing, with its vivid aromas (rosehip, dried flowers, wild berry fruit, woodsmoke, pomegranate seed) and notable evolution (bloody, dried fruit and tobacco leaf). Great Pinot should be sensual, shocking, risky and compelling – and that’s exactly what this wine is. Great Pinot should go way beyond simple fruit – and that’s what this wine does. We urge you to discover this fragrant, fascinating Pinot for yourselves, especially now given it seems to be at a real peak in its evolution. Our notes included the phrases: ‘Wow that’s delicious in a can’t-put-it-down kind of way,’ and ‘I’d drink the hell out of this.’ Enough said."

17.5/20 Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, May 2026 (2021 Vintage)
"Glowing, shaded ruby. Real layers of flavour on the nose and a genuinely burgundian, flattering texture. This is a wine that treasures the palate and leaves it delightfully clean. Hint of mushrooms and violets. I can quite see why Peter Richards and Susie Barrie singled it out."

94/100 James Suckling (2021 Vintage)
"Very vivid on the nose with ripe strawberries, stems, rose petals and fresh oyster mushrooms. Medium-bodied, extremely fresh and poised, with fine linear tannins that run the length of the wine and focus the palate. This is another energetic wine from this producer and one to seek out. Drink or hold."

Vinous.com (2021 Vintage)
"Flavorsome and tender, the 2021 Pinot Noir A2 is an immediately appealing wine with just the right amount of flesh counterbalanced by a corset of acidity that sticks around until a satisfying, bright finish. The aromatics have a distinctive herbal edge that might remind you of fennel and wormwood or woody green herbs. Its herbal personality follows through in its flavours and is joined by cherry cola and earthy notes. The fine-grained tannins are fully integrated and combined with the fresh acidity to give a lightly structured and fragrant finish. Very attractive."