Akitu A1 Pinot Noir 2019 Central Otago New Zealand 750ml

Dark garnet with a crimson edge within a deep plummy hue. The first aroma from this wine gives a hint to the depth and complexity that lies beneath, hidden for now in the glass. Layers of graphite, brown spice and wild herbs sit across dark plummy fruit. Ripe dark cherries, dark rose petal and a hint of sous boisare all coiled very tightly in a compact bundle of aromatic intensity. This one will take some time to show its true depth and complexity. The palate opens with intense fruit concentration over a core of powerful soft tannin. There are layers of textural phenolics pushing up against fruit plushness which impress and excite.  This wine, the 8^th vintage of the black label, without doubt shows in its shape and structure that it is unequivocally of the Hawkesbury vineyard.  A fine line of acidity suggests a long and exciting evolution.  It will start to hit its straps at five years old and continue for at least another five, perhaps much more.  

“Complex, focussed, intriguing and inviting bouquet. Aromas of place and time, minerality then a core of darker red berries, spices and some toastiness of French Oak, lees and a touch of gun flint. There’s a synery from the bouquet that can only come from the soil and fruit. Delicious, complex, youthful and taut on the palate. The texture is firm and slaivating, flavours offer contrast and a reflection of the vintage and fruit quality. Dried herb and rugged rocky mineral qualitiess add mouthfeel as well as depth. Delicious, fresh and ready to drink from late 2023 through 2033+.” – 96/100 Cameron Douglas MS

“A lovely mossy lift gives an ethereal edge to pristine, ripe but tart red cherry fruit. The palate comes in with a firm but graceful structure and a spine of both ripe, slightly grippy and superfine tannin and vivid, mouth-watering freshness. The texture has the kind of resonance and depth that draws you in and promises reserves that have yet to show themselves. Give this bottle age. It is a lesson in precision, clarity and depth. The length proves this point and throws in a lifted note of conifer.” – 95/100 Anne Krebiehl MW, Falstaff

“13.5% alcohol. This is a tight-wound, structured Pinot with some savoury, gravelly grip to the black cherry and blackberry fruit, with some raspberry brightness and a touch of sternness on the finish. The nose is intriguing, with fine green hints interwoven into the slightly sweet and sour fruit, and savoury overtones. There’s lots of fruit here, but it is chained with fine but firm tannins, and it has some tautness. You can drink it now, and it offers a lot of pleasure, but it’s grunty and stern enough to reward some cellaring. Impressive stuff, chiselled, balanced, but with lovely fruit, too.” – 95/100 Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak

“Elegant, supple pinot noir with purity and power. Layers of spice and floral flavours with a suggestion of roasted chestnut and a thread of saline and oyster-shell. Restrained with exciting development potential.” – 95/100 Bob Campbell MW