2024 Black Estate Netherwood Pinot Noir, North Canterbury

Sourced from the sandstone-born soils of the 1986-planted Netherwood vineyard. Bright, dark ruby and laden with Medina spice and juicy, succulent cherry, dark plum and wild strawberry fruits. This has a seam of crushed herbs, wildflowers, pomegranate, a wisp of struck flint and earthen undertones. It's got a sleekness to its travel on the palate with a fine, minerally line and layers of spicy, meaty complexity below that pure fruit. For the drinking window, I was going to be witty and say 'For Today', a reference to the Netherworld Dancing Toys single from the '80s. Truth is, it'll improve nicely over the medium term. Drink to 2038.

95 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, June 2026

Beguiling, soaring perfume with rose petals, crushed strawberry, wild raspberry presenting sweet red high tones while darker undertones of cola nut lurk deeper within. The palate is elegant and fine-grained with the texture of crushed velvet as the flavours unfold with more layers of floral, savoury herb and wet stone. The tannins build towards the back, presenting a reassuring grip on the finish, yet the finely etched acidity keeps everything vertical and poised. This is a sophisticated pinot noir with innate complexity and depth yet no more than medium-bodied. It will evolve across the coming decade while remaining elegant and perfumed. Drink to 2036.

95 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, January 2026

Mellow, balanced and fruity, with cherries, currants and wild herbs on the nose. Medium-bodied with sleek tannins. Linear and supple, with more juicy berry character in the finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Unfiltered. Drink now.

92 points Kevin Davy for James Suckling, October 2025

The Netherwood vineyard was the first hillside vineyard in Northern Canterbury and was planted by Daniel Schuster and Russell Black in 1986.

The 2.9-hectare site is planted mostly to a mass selection of Pinot Noir on its own roots and has always been farmed without irrigation. The vines stand in Waipara Greensand sandstone soils with varying aspects to north and south, with a small 0.9-hectare south-facing clock planted to Chardonnay, its vines a mass selection likely to have originated from the Mendoza-clone of the variety.

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 well-seasoned 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 42ppm 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.