2023 Chard Farm The Tiger Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Light ruby. Bright cherry fruit with high toned florals and crushed strawberry. Acidity marks the palate, giving a tart crispness to the delicately pretty fruit. Some sweet spice complexity shows on the finish of this tight, light pinot. Enjoy over the mid-term for its delicacy and red-fruited charm. Drink to 2035.

92 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, November 2025

This wine opens with an aromatic and lifted nose of red fruit and complex florals and warm Chinese spice, with smoky notes of cedar framing the background. The light- to medium-weighted palate is ample and silky, with expanding fruit supported by powdery tannins, and underpinned by fresh acidity.

The wine's warm spice and cedary lift call for something with a little smoke or char of its own, while the silky texture and fresh acidity keep it food-friendly rather than heavy. Try a Moroccan-spiced roasted eggplant for a vegetarian match, or char siu-glazed pork with charred spring onions if you’re feeling carnivorous.

More about this wine

This is a single vineyard Pinot Noir made with estate grown fruit from the 12.4ha The Tiger vineyard planted in 1999. Located in the Lowburn subregion of Central Otago, the site features schist soils on a north-facing slope above the Lowburn inlet. The 2023 season was one of even ripening in this region, and gave growers aromatic grapes with great natural acidity.

About Chard Farm

Chard Farm is a family business founded in 1987 by Rob Hay and Gerdi Schumann. Located on a spectacular terrace above the Kawarau River at the entrance to the Gibbston Valley, the site was originally settled by the Chard family in the 1860s and its market garden provided food for the miners in the district during the gold rush era of Central Otago.

A winery was built in 1993, and the original vineyard has grown to ten sites across the Gibbston Valley, Lowburn and Parkburn subregions.