Dry River Pinot Noir 2020

Reviews

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 98/100 & Best Martinborough Pinot Noir 2020 (out of 27). Winemaker Wilco describes 2020 as a great vintage. The wine certainly endorses his enthusiasm. It's an intense, powerful and yet surprisingly accessible pinot noir, with layers of cherry, berry, spice and savoury flavours that are indescribably delicious and which promise to get even better with bottle age. A very serious pinot noir. Deserves to be aerated, especially in its youth. Drink 2022-2040.

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100.  A powerful and seductive bouquet with a core of pinosity then aromas of dark red berries, mineral soil, a fine savoury, dried herb quality and youthful energy. Toasty barrel and dark spices of oak are noticeable, but not misplaced. Fantastic on the palate with a core of youthful energy, baking spices and dark berry fruit flavours, firm tannins and plenty of acidity. The heartbeat of pinosity is strong, holding my attention. A lovely wine that should be locked away in your cellar till 2024 then taste again. Best drinking likely from 2025 through 2040.

Winemaker's Note

Darker notes of oak, oak bark and toasted cumin and coriander spices contrast with lifted fruits of cassis, blood orange, raspberry, and cherries. Then there are the grounding aromatics by way of freshly cut barley straw, nutmeg, and fresh thyme. It reminds me a little bit of the 2010 vintage, with its cooler finish that showed interesting contrasts of aromatics.

We have seen a lively and fresh acidity in the 2020 white wines, which also shows in the Pinot Noir. It gives clear direction, drive, and tension - verging on that dissonance mentioned earlier - and shows the lines over the length of the palate, accentuating the fine tannins and leaving little “space” for the depth and concentration of the fruit to show. Don’t be fooled, the fruit is there. The wine just needs a bit of time to show its generosity and warmth, something we all seem to crave at the moment.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: red wine

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Alcohol: 13% vol

Residual sugar: <2 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Food match: Match with venison tartare, roasted lamb rack or mushroom risotto.

Decanting: recommended

Notice: contains sulfite

Vineyard: 'Dry River Estate', 'Lovat' and 'Craighall' sites, Martinborough, New Zealand.

Vintage: Dry River had great fruit set in November and December follow by a warm and very dry summer. The rain didn’t come until late April. This is noticed in the wine, which shows a little “tar/earth” note as a reduction, which developed in bottle after bottling. It does disappear after some time, so Wilco Lam advisse all customers to decant and/or aerate when drinking it young.

Winemaking: The fruit was chilled to 4°C after picking, processed the day after picking using 30% whole bunch. After a 5-day cold soak we warmed the vats for wild ferment to start. Wilco used pump overs only, no pigeage. The ferments were warmer and faster than usual, the total skin time was 18-20 days. After pressing, the wine was racked with fine lees to barrel (all 300L) for 12 months. Bottled in early spring 2021, un-fined and unfiltered.

Cellaring potential: 2035+. The 2020 Pinot Noir is expected to show its best after seven to eight years of age.

Closure: Cork

Produced and bottled: Dry River Wines Limited, P.O Box 72, Martinborough, South Wairarapa, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany

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