Very enticing bouquet with aromas of ripe red berry fruits, warm clay, silty chalk soil scents, sweet French oak barrel with mild toasty wood smoke aromas, wild red flower and raspberry. Equally complex on the palate with flavours of red berries and spicy plum, mineral soils and barrel spices of toasty wood. Firm tannins and acidity enhance a savoury complexity adding mouthfeel and length. Youthful and still developing but drinking well now especially with food. Ideal drinking window from 2022 through 2028.
94 points Cameron Douglas MS camdouglasms.com
excellent
The Carrick Bannockburn Pinot Noir is known for its structure and its ability to age well over a long period of time. The 2018 growing season had the hottest growing season on record, with rain just before harvest, it was incredibly unusual and picking began two weeks earlier than normal. The fruit came in looked good and the resulting wines are generous and impressive.
The fruit comes from a parcel of vines which are entirely grown on their own roots and are the oldest vines on the property. Now 25 years old.
The 2018 Carrick Bannockburn Pinot Noir is a blend of 4 different parcels and 3 different clones, from both the Cairnmuir Vineyard (10/5; Clone 5 and 777) and Arthur’s Vineyard (10/5, Clone 5 and Clone 13).
All vines are planted on their own roots, organically certified and tended to by hand. Destemmed, then fermented using wild yeast, each parcel spends 9 months ageing in barrel, of which 20% are new French oak barrels. Each barrel is carefully selected, before blending and remains in tank over harvest, allowing it time to unify.
This is classic Central Otago Pinot Noir, with good structure, earthy tones alongside red fruit and great balance, with at least 1 year of bottle age before release.