Escarpment Pinot Noir 2019

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 95/100.  There’s an immediate sense of place with the bouquet and power of this wine, aromas of wild flower and red berries, barrel spice, savoury cherry flesh and roses, plums and light brown kitchen cupboard spices, leather, stilled soil and fine oak sweetness. Delicious on the palate, flavours of cherry and drying strawberry, baking spices and barrel toast, cinnamon and old roses, lees textures and a fine cashew nut oak layer. An abundance of finely tuned tannins and acid line deliver backbone and structure. Unfined realism, elegant, complex and layered wine, a pleasure to taste. best drinking from 2023 through 2030.

Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast: 95/100. At half the price of Escarpment's single vineyard wine, Kupe, this is stellar value for one of New Zealand's top Pinots. Still young, it needs time in decanter or glass, then opens into a pretty yet powerful wine. Red fruit, tree sap, tar and underlying minerality are wound in raspy tannins. There's length, elegance, intensity and regional character, plus an ability to age until 2028, at least. 

MaryAnn Worobiec, Wine Spectator: 94/100. Complex and detailed, this fragrant red offers notes of gunpowder tea, dried lavender and rosemary, with a touch of sassafras to complement the rich, succulent black cherry, blueberry and blackberry flavors. The tannins offer a firm backbone, but never get in the way. Drink now through 2026. 

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 95/100. Beautifully ripe and fragrant with dark plum, dried herb, toasted spice and almond notes, it’s beautifully rounded and flowing in the mouth offering fine texture and polished tannins. Juicy and fleshy with pristine fruit flavours backed by spicy complexity, making it splendidly appealing. At its best: 2023 to 2030.

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 93/100. Aromas of redcurrants, cherries, dried herbs and baking spices. Medium body with lively acidity. Fresh, layered and juicy with a bright core of fruit and a succulent finish.

Tasting Note

Perfume, elegant fruit flavours, and soft ripe tannins are all hallmarks of this exceptional Pinot Noir. A typical Martinborough summer has created the distinctive Escarpment style showing complexity, attractive texture and the perfect mix of dark and red fruit flavours along with baking spices such as cinnamon.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: red wine

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Winemaking: The fruit was hand harvested, then gently handled without pumping until it was pressed. Hand plunged every 12 hours then left to macerate on skins for an average vat time of 18 days. It has been aged completely in French oak barriques, of which 25% were new, for 11 months.

Cellaring potential: 2028+

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Residual sugar: <1 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulfite

Closure: Screwcap

Serving: Serve Pinot Noir at 16 - 18°C.

Produced and bottled: Escarpment Winery Ltd., 275 Te Muna Rd., Martinborough, New Zealand

Distributor: Weinkontor Freund GmbH, D- 33829 Borgholzhausen

Can't get enough of Pinot Noir? Discover our Pinot Noir assortment.