Astrolabe Wrekin
Pinot Noir
2020
My Wrekin Pinot Noir was grown at Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. The vines are closely planted and low-cropping. The Wrekin fruit provides a lot of the structure to our larger Province blend, giving our darkest cherry and plum flavours and the muscular structure and tannin. I have chosen to release this small production wine to highlight the individual expression of this site.
Hand-picked fruit was de-stemmed, cold soaked for seven days, fermented with wild yeast and aged in three French oak barrels for nine months, where it underwent natural malolactic fermentation. The selected barrels were blended and aged for an additional nine months in old oak puncheons.
Simon Waghorn — Winemaker
TASTING NOTES
COLOUR/APPEARANCE
Dark ruby red with purple hue.
AROMA/BOUQUET
Spicy dark plum compote with dried rose petal, smoky oak, anise and leather.
PALATE
Full, smooth, dark and brooding, with nutty, brambly fruit notes, mouth-filling tannins and a lingering finish
AGING POTENTIAL
This wine should cellar well, for at least six years.
FOOD PAIRING
Roasted venison, rabbit, smoky eggplant, seared lamb and wild mushroom ragù.
PINOT NOIR SERVING TEMPERATURE
Cool room temperature.
2019 vintage
5 STARS
"The powerful 2019 vintage was hand-harvested in Marlborough's upper Brancott Valley and matured for 10 months in French oak barrels (25 per cent new). Boldly coloured, it is mouthfilling, rich and supple, with deep, lush plum, cherry and spice flavours, and a lasting finish. It should flourish for a decade.”
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Michael Cooper
New Zealand Wines: Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide 2021
94 POINTS
"Ripe, intense, fruity, varietal and complex. Aromas of dark cherry and plum layered between aromas of oak spices and toasty barrel. Vanilla, cedar and clove, velvet roses and a savoury clay stone minerality. Delicious on the palate with flavours of dark berries, wood and spices that reflect the nose. Firm tannins needing some cellar time to settle in, plenty of acidity and pate texture. A lovely wine best enjoyed with food or on its own from late 2022 through 2029."
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Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier
95 POINTS
"Intense, concentrated pinot noir with red-fleshed plum, dark cherry and berry, charcuterie and nutty oak flavours supported by fine, ripe tannins. An impressive wine that can be appreciated now but deserves to be given at least a few years bottle age." MAY 21
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Bob Campbell, Master of Wine
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