2024 Black Estate Damsteep Pinot Noir, North Canterbury

Exotic spice bazaar and herbal medicine with nutmeg, dried dates and jungle fruits. Closed and deep-pitched, the reticent palate is firmly structured but also intensely concentrated with caressing flavours of blackberry, olive and licorice. Very long with well submerged chocolaty tannins and resonant acidity. Violet tones emerge mid-palate, lingering into the finish of grapeseed and spice. Utterly captivating expression and presently unevolved, this will unfurl with bewildering complexity in the years to come. Drink to 2038.

96 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, January 2026

Pinot noir from the sandstone and fractured limestone soils of the Damsteep vineyard in North Canterbury. Deep ruby with fruit tones of dark cherry, wild strawberry, raspberry and pomegranate over hints of turned leaf litter, dried meats, moody souk-like spice, amaro herbs, turned earth, wood spice and dried shiitake. The fruit is dark, pure and true on the palate. There is a stony, savoury quality to the palate shape, with a base of minerals and powdery, crushed-rock tannins. Some nice sustain on that finish, too.

95 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, June 2026

Juicy and fruity with a laid-back character. Aromas of ripe dark cherries, sandalwood and matchsticks. Medium-bodied with sleek tannins. Supple, with more fruit character in the finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Unfiltered. Drink now. Screw cap.

91 points Kevin Davy for James Suckling, October 2025

The Damsteep vineyard is in northeastern Waipara Valley at the foot of the Omihi Saddle. The 5.3-hectare vineyard has nine parcels of Pinot Noir planted in 2000 with varied aspects at an elevation of 140-280 metres in clay with fractured limestone and sandstone subsoils.

The 2024 season started after good winter and spring rains, with rains at flowering disrupting fruit set at a degree, leading to smaller bunches and yields. The rest of the season was trouble-free, with steady warmth during the days and cool nights.

The fruit for this wine was de-stemmed and 70% kept as whole berries for a four-day cold soak at ambient temperature. The fermentation was initiated with yeast strains cultivated from the indigenous yeasts in this vineyard and lasted for 10 to 12 days during which the ferments were hand or foot plunged once or twice each day. The parcels were pressed after a total of 27 days on skins and matured for 12 months in tight grained five- to ten-year-old French oak barriques and puncheons.

The racked wine was blended into a closed stainless-steel vat for a three-month rest ahead of bottling which took place without fining or filtration and a minimal addition of 39ppm SO2.

About this producer

Black Estate is a family-owned and operated wine estate established in 1993 by Russell and Kumiko Black, and purchased in 2007 by its current owners, Nicholas Brown, Pen Naish and her family.

Located in North Canterbury’s Omihi, its current holdings include 24 hectares across three certified organic and biodynamic hillside vineyards, with a fourth one under a long-term lease contract. Their focus is on single vineyard expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the two varieties supported by smaller amounts of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

Nicholas manages all aspects of viticulture and winemaking. He relies on good viticulture to produce excellent fruit for the wines that are vinified with minimal intervention practices that include fermentation with indigenous yeasts and bottling without fining or filtration. Minimal sulphur is used at bottling, and only if deemed necessary.