ASTROLABE WREKIN PINOT NOIR 2020

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"My Wrekin Pinot Noir was grown at Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. The vines are closely planted and low-cropping. The Wrekin fruit provides a lot of the structure to our larger Province blend, giving our darkest cherry and plum flavours and the muscular structure and tannin. I have chosen to release this small production wine to highlight the individual expression of this site.

Hand-picked fruit was de-stemmed, cold soaked for seven days, fermented with wild yeast and aged in three French oak barrels for nine months, where it underwent natural malolactic fermentation. The selected barrels were blended and aged for an additional nine months in old oak puncheons.

Aromas of spicy dark plum compote with dried rose petal, smoky oak, anise and leather. Full, smooth, dark and brooding palate, with nutty, brambly fruit notes, mouth-filling tannins and a lingering finish."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, April 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"Complex, floral, fruity and new. Varietal with a core of dark red berry fruit and red currant, some natural fruit spice, red flowers, a mild savoury complexity and a distinctive mineral stone quality. Fantastic on the palate with a firm youthful texture, ripe tannins and youthful acid line. The savoury quality on the nose translates to the palate with intensity, contrasted by the core of fruit and generous mouthfeel. A lovely wine, very youthful and will need some cellar time. Best drinking from late 2024 through 2034+."

5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, May 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"From the close-planted, low-cropping Wrekin vineyard in the Southern Valleys. Hand-picked bunches were de-stemmed and fermented with wild yeasts before being aged in French barriques for nine months. Selected wines received an additional maturation for nine months in French puncheons. It’s a dense, flavoursome pinot noir with black-fleshed plum, dark cherry, liquorice, wood smoke and spicy oak flavours. A generously proportioned wine with succulent, ripe fruit flavours to the fore balanced by enough tannin influence to prevent it becoming a simple fruit-bomb."

5 Stars Michael Cooper, August 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"Certified organic, the classy 2020 vintage was hand-harvested in the Southern Valleys and matured for 10 months in French oak barrels (33 per cent new). Deeply coloured, it is powerful, highly concentrated and finely structured, with dense cherry, plum and spice flavours, complex, savoury, vigorous and still extremely youthful. Best drinking 2025+."