WILLIAM DOWNIE Bull Swamp Pinot Noir, Baw Baw Shire

As the northern most sub-region of the Cote de Nuits, Marsannay has the propensity to produce wines or austerity and purity with firm structure. These wines are known to aged very well and this Louis Latour example is no exception. With notes of sour cherry and cigar box, this is an ethereal Pinot Noir with a classic feel about it.

Deep garnet hue with a fascinating array of aromas from mineral and floral to earthy/animal and baking spice/wild thyme. The fruit shines through on the palate with bright cherry, blackberry and mulberry complimented by a rich earthy vein. The savoury characteristics from a cool and exceptionally low cropping vintage are sensational when married with the classic Gibbston silky, fine tannins and electric acidity. VALLI is the personal vocation of pioneering winemaker Grant Taylor. Grants name is 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 VALLI in 1998 with the intention to produce single vineyard Pinot Noirs highlighting the different characteristics of Otagos 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.

The Last Chance is a beautifully sited small terrace perched above the Earnscleugh Valley, carefully planted with well-tended Burgundian clone pinot noir. It is one of a small cluster of the worlds most southerly vineyards and takes its name from the watercourse that runs through its heart, hand-dug by gold miners in the 1860s The Last Chance. The soils are raw schist gravels. The Last Chance Pinot Noir is hand picked and sorted in the vineyard. One-third whole-bunch natural fermentation in a 3.5 tonne wooden vat. Five-day cold soak. Post fermentation transferred to medium and light toast French barriques for 11 months maturation. One-third new wood and the balance in second and third fill barrels. Light filtration prior to bottling. The Lasdt Chance Pinot Noir typically shows thyme, wild flower, red fruit and spiciness on the nose leading to a complex palate showing great coverage, elegance and length.

The First Paddock is Two Paddocks original vineyard. Planted in 1993, it is among Central Otagos oldest vineyards, superbly situated in upper Gibbston, meticulously tended and planted to carefully selected Burgundian Pinot Noir vines clones. This wine is typically sourced from the same 25 rows of Clone 5, planted in 1993. Hand harvested and sorted then a 50% whole bunch indigenous ferment in a dedicated First Paddock French oak vat. Matured in 30% new French oak with the balance in older wood for an extended 14 months of barrel maturation. The First Paddock Pinot Noir is typically dark, brooding and spicy, with dried herb aromatics and a textured palate showing brightness, finesse and elegance on a long finish.

The Fusilier Vineyard is named in honour of proprietor Sam Neills father, Major Dermot Neill, a soldier in the Royal Irish Fusilier Regiment for 20 years before returning home to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he ran the family Wine & Spirit business, Neill & Co. Planted entirely in 2000, The Fusilier is 5.6 hectares of Pinot Noir on rolling northerly facing terraces at the western end of Felton Road and bordered by the vineyard of the same name. Soils consist of deep alluvial fans made up of varying depths of silt, sand and gravel layering, all derived from mountainous raw schist parent material. Grapes for The Fusilier are hand picked and sorted in the vineyard, naturally fermented with one-third whole-bunches in a 3.5 tonne wooden vat, followed by a five-day cold soak. The wine is then transferred to medium and light toast French barriques (one-third new) for 11 months maturation. Light filtration prior to bottling. Fusilier Pinots typically show spicy red fruit, dried herb and wildflower aromatics leading to a feminine, lithe and textural driven wine.

The palate is rich and mouth filling, with up front fruit sweetness balanced by a fine juicy acidity. Notes of dark berry fruits, exotic spice and toast fill the mid palate framed by fine chalky tannins before finishing with lingering suggestions of earth and mushrooms. Alan Peters Oswald, Winemaker, Nanny Goat - Curiosity drives Alan Peters-Oswald to try something new, interesting and different just to see what the outcome is. He lets each individual parcel of fruit shine in its own right, and also believes that by combining a number of unique parcels in a larger blend you can produce a wine that is multi-faceted, interesting and evolves in the glass, creating a true sensory experience. Alans wines reflect his personality, in that theyre not flashy but are quietly confident. Give them time in the glass and youll be rewarded with a wine that is interesting and multi-layered. Just like him.