Pinot Noir, Block 5, Central Otago, 2024
Forest fruited and complex with a lovely floral lavender-like freshness, dark cherry, plum and stony intensity. Block 5 carries the most prominent but also finest tannins in the range, balancing a certain lushness and length that marks it as their deepest and most structured Pinot; one that has a proven ability to cellar beautifully. Block 5 is a gentle north facing slope in the middle of The Elms vineyard planted in 1993. The soils vary up the slope from heavy loess and silt, clay lakebed deposits, and angular schist gravels. Fermented with 25% whole clusters and aged for 16 months in 25% French new oak barrels.
critic reviews
The 2024 Pinot Noir Block 5 caresses with ripe succulence and silken textures. Though typically a low-tannin variety, there's an abundance of stony tannin within its core that provides an ample frame. Despite its ripeness, the 2024 has mouthwatering freshness and a satisfyingly sapid finish, long and scented with black cherry fruit, spices and dried herbs. Expect this to evolve over the next two decades.