Wine Spectator Review
Rated 92
Serve up a formidable core of spicy black cherry, pomegranate, black pepper and crushed stone flavors. The firm, lively structured, green tea tones and nicely integrated oak extend through the lingering finish. Drink now through 2011.

Wine Enthusiast Review
Rated 92
An atypically lush, full-bodied Pinot, this harkens back to the winery's excellent 2001 in style, ripe and plummy, yet with complex notes of coffee, meat, dried herbs and cracked pepper. Long on the finish, where hints of black tea emerge.

The Wine Review Review
Rated 92
If you have heard great things about New Zealand Pinot but havent yet tasted what all the fuss is about, this would be a good bottle with which to get your start. Ample and deeply flavored but still exquisitely delicate, it marries plush dark cherry fruit with subtly bright acidity and delicate notes of toast and spices. The texture is totally winning, with a soft, rounded dimension but also some grip and definition from tannin and oak.

Wine Tasting Notes
Dark ruby garnet in color. The nose is fresh, varietal Pinot noir with hints of smoky oak. On the palate the wine is rich and full with dark plum and black cherry notes. There is an underlying spiciness in the cinnamon/nutmeg spectrum. Though rich, the wine is not jammy the fruit ripeness is well balanced. Loads of cherry cassis with some mocha coffee. This is a classic Martinborough style of Pinot noir a seductive blend of power and elegance. The toasty vanillin oak is apparent in its youth but will quickly blend to an overall seamlessness. The tannins - both oak and fruit - add to the overall structure of the wine, providing a soft backbone. We are very pleased with this wine, we rate it as one of the best from the last half a dozen vintages. Like all our Pinots it will age gracefully out to 2012 to 2014.