Envoy Outpost Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2016

Envoy Outpost Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2016"Sweetly fruited and seductively savoury, it's beautifully lifted on the nose showing dark berry, game, toasted spice and almond characters with a hint of dried herb nuance. The palate displays excellent weight and persistency together with silky texture and chalky tannins, making the wine sturdy and structured. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jul 2020 "Mellow, moderately concentrated pinot noir with red fruits, spice, anise, plum,

"Sweetly fruited and seductively savoury, it's beautifully lifted on the nose showing dark berry, game, toasted spice and almond characters with a hint of dried herb nuance. The palate displays excellent weight and persistency together with silky texture and chalky tannins, making the wine sturdy and structured. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jul 2020

"Mellow, moderately concentrated pinot noir with red fruits, spice, anise, plum, spicy oak and bacon fat flavours. Still reasonably fresh, with emerging savoury bottle development. Well-structured with a backbone of fine, ripe tannins" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Feb 2022

Plum, five-spice, and truffles. Deep-set red fruit flavours are bound by the firm structure. Medium weight in the mid palate finishes chalky and firm. Over time the vibrant fruit spice at bottling should transform to more of the earthy aromas typical of Pinot Noir. Structurally the wine should soften over time to provide great complexity and interest over a 5-10 year cellaring period.

Omaka Valley - clay/silt loam over clay bound glacial gravel on a steeply sloping, direct North facing aspect.

Handpicked in the cool of morning, the grapes naturally fermented and were hand plunged in open vats over several weeks. A portion of the bunches were left as whole bunches. After draining to barrels for 19 months, the wine was blended before bottling 24 months after harvest.

2016 was excellent. Dry conditions without excessive heat meant the pinot noir had small crops with great concentration. Acid retention was very good with flavour, tannin and sugar maturities well balanced for near perfect harvest conditions.