A Central Otago Pinot with earthiness and depth to wallow in. The pristine cool-climate along with long sun drenched days allowed the fruit to ripen magnificently and produce aromas of deep red cherry, blackberry and cocoa. In the mouth the Squealing Pig is rich and generous with velvet like tannins and a wonderful, long finish.

This wine highlights the slightly cooler season with lovely perfumed dark red forest berries and cherry fruits along with a hint of dried herb, adding complexity. The wine has a sweet berry entry which displays these same characters in abundance. Lovely ripe textural tannins rise gracefully out of the mid-palate to finish the wine. These are balanced by the wines acidity and fruit, to produce a long fruit-driven finish.

This vintage has produced a Pinot Noir displaying ripe rich aromatics; perfumed black fruits of the forest dominate the aroma and these are underpinned by lovely clove, anise and other brown spice notes. The wine displays lovely elegance and flows with striking precision and clarity. On the palate it kicks off with a supple dark berry entry, moving into a beautifully textured plush mid-palate, after which fine elegant textural tannins frame fruit and acidity on a lengthy finish. Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Pinot Noir will improve for 7-10 years given optimal vintage and cellaring conditions.

Product Information: The 25th vintage in Gibbston delivered idyllic conditions providing the opportunity to make exceptional wines including this commemorative cuvee from their own Estate, one that beautifully articulates in the glass everything Grant and Jen love about Gibbston Pinot Noir. This slightly warmer season shows density and concentration with amazing finesse; perfume; fragrance; fine tannin; bright fruit and delectable earthiness. The wines receive 25% whole bunch, there's 25 days of total maceration. The wine spends 11.5 months in 29% new oak by Ana Selection and François Frères. Maker: Valli is the personal vocation of pioneering winemaker Grant Taylor a name that's synonymous with Otago Pinot Noir. He has been crafting wines there since 1993 when there were only 20 ha planted – today there are over 2000. Grant founded Valliin 1998 with the intention to produce single vineyard Pinot Noirs highlighting the different characteristics of Otago’s sub regions. More than 20 years later, Valli is doing just that, producing single-vineyard pinot noirs from Gibbston, Bannockburn, and Bendigo in Central Otago and the Waitaki Valley in North Otago, as well as a dry Pinot Gris from Gibbston and a Riesling from Waitaki. In 2015, established Otago winemaker Jen Parr joined Grant in the winery, where the two aim to create wines with honesty, integrity, and most of all, a sense of place. When you drink a Valli wine, you are enjoying more than just a wine: you are experiencing a place. Vineyard: Just off the Gibbston Highway in Central Otago, this vineyard embraces a semi excellences a semi-continental climate, at altitudes ranging from 320 to 475 meters, the vines thrive with a composition of Dijon clones. They draw sustenance from alluvial loess atop firm river gravels and colluviums, while being free draining. Planted in year 2000, managing a relatively dense 4,040 per hectare the yields are kept to a low 5 tonnes per hectare. Producing wines of extraordinary character and depth of flavour. Nose - Herbaceous, Raspberry, Sweet Spices The nose is elegantly presented, with a whiff of medicinal/ herbaceous nuance, unfolding Bing cherry, strawberry, raspberry, hibiscus, vanilla and spices. Palate - Cherry, Hibiscus, Thyme Medium-bodied aromas of strawberry, cherry and raspberry intertwined with hibiscus, vanilla, and cinnamon, along with thyme, vine leaf and a suggestion of liquorice. Ripe acidity laces the palate, and dusty tannin lightly adorns and carries a captivating closing. A graceful Pinot Noir shows deep nuances and balanced spice on a refined, dusty mouthfeel. Finish - Briary, Licorice, Savoury Wood Spices A graceful Pinot Noir shows deep nuances and balanced spice on a refined, dusty mouthfeel.

The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Bannockburn label are subject to two strict criteria: they are managed under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty viticultural team and must be sourced from vineyards situated on the South side of the Kawarau River at Bannockburn. This Pinot noir displays lovely elegance and flow with striking precision and clarity. On the palate it kicks off with a supple dark berry entry, moving into a beautifully textured plush mid palate, after which fine elegant textural tannins frame fruit and acidity on a lengthy finish.

Felton Road is responsible, to a large extent, for putting Central Otago on the world Pinot Noir map. The wines are, well not so much fruit-driven, as perhaps turbo-charged! Amazing levels of red fruits, a subtle yet important savoury component, along with the silky texture all Pinot enthusiasts long for. This single-block wine shows how different portions of a single vineyard can still have a quite unique character, or what the French would call terrior.