Bannockburn Pinot Noir, Felton Road 2020

A perfumed nose of strawberries, sour cherries, raspberries, violets, vanilla and baking spices. It’s medium-to full-bodied with lively acidity and fine tannins. Balanced and compact with a velvety texture and a bright core of fruit on the mid-palate. Long finish. Chewy. Needs a few years to soften, but already impressive. Screw cap.

The 2020 Bannockburn Pinot Noir is abundant and satisfying, with a core of huddled red fruits on the mid-palate. The wine is ripe and ample through the finish, giving the wine a rounded shape in the mouth. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Indigenous yeast. Aged for 13 months in French oak (30% new). Not fined or filtered.Younger than most of these NZ Pinots, which may explain the intensity of crimson. Pure exuberant southern-hemisphere fruit on the nose. The wonderfully gentle texture on the palate into which a lot of work seems to have gone. There’s a hint of dunked digestive biscuits here. Long and fresh. 2021 – 2028