Overview
A highly acclaimed Marlborough Pinot Noir from Greywacke, earning 95-point reviews from Halliday Wine Companion, Cameron Douglas MS and Decanter. Sourced from the Southern Valleys and principally the Yarrum Vineyard, the 2023 vintage combines fragrant fruit and floral detail with savoury complexity, polished tannins and impressive ageing potential.
Vintage
The 2023 growing season followed a notably wet winter, with 220mm of rain recorded in July 2022. Spring brought challenging conditions including several frosts, but the vineyard emerged largely unscathed and an excellent flowering period resulted in healthy crop levels.
Early summer was warm before conditions became more changeable, with intermittent wet spells and a particularly dry late February. Pinot Noir was the first variety to arrive at the winery, with Southern Valleys fruit hand-harvested between 8 and 26 March in excellent condition and with impressive concentration of flavour.
Vineyard
All fruit was grown in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys and principally sourced from the Yarrum Vineyard, situated on the ridge between the Brancott and Ben Morven Valleys. Smaller parcels came from the Omaka Valley and hillsides around the mouth of the Brancott Valley. The wind-blown loess soils comprise clay-loams with differing degrees of gravel content. Plantings include predominantly Dijon clones 115, 777 and 667, with smaller parcels of UCD5, 828, 943 and AM10/5. The vineyards are primarily hillside plantings trained to two-cane VSP at a high vine density of 3,800 plants per hectare.
Winemaking
The grapes were hand-harvested and chilled overnight before hand-sorting. Most fruit was destemmed into open-top fermenters, with the majority incorporating a percentage of whole-bunch inclusion. The fruit was left to soak on skins before indigenous yeast fermentation commenced naturally, followed by daily plunging. After fermentation, the wine was pressed, racked and filled into French oak barriques, 30% new.
Individual clones were barrel-aged separately for 11 months before blending in January 2024. The wine was bottled in June.
Producer Tasting Notes
Greywacke: “Imagine a dark chocolate brownie, baked in a wood-fired oven and finished with a dollop of plum compote. Deeply coloured and exhibiting both sweet and savoury aromatics – think pumpernickel, bramble berries and the soft scent of lilac. The palate rivals in complexity, with tamarillo, wild cherry and grilled nectarine flavours, underpinned by dusty tannins and a long, driven finish.”
Critic Reviews
95 Points — Halliday Wine Companion, Shanteh Wale
“Beautifully fragrant, this opens with fresh violets and just-picked cherries. Some lavender and rosehip. Boysenberries and oolong tea leaves. Some star anise spice. Fruit is very youthful, tannins graze at the edges of the palate, and acidity glides through. This is well packaged as a whole, slinky, juicy and with just enough savoury turned-earth tones to anchor the oak spice. Some granitic soil and cherry pit to finish.”
Published 02 April 2026
95 Points — Cameron Douglas MS
“Fabulous bouquet with complexity and depth, purity of fruit and a sense of site, winemaking style and intrigue. Aromas and flavours of spiced blackcurrant and dark cherry, hay and dried herb, stone and barrel smoke and violet. Dry, a firm texture with polished tannins and medium+ acid line. As the wine opens out in glass the core flavours and texture show more intensity and complexity, a wine that will continue to age and develop. Best drinking from 2027 through 2037.”
Tasted August 2025
95 Points — Decanter
Tasted October 2025
Drinking window: 2025–2035.
Specifications
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Vintage: 2023
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Producer: Greywacke
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Country: New Zealand
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Region: Marlborough
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Subregion: Southern Valleys
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Grape Variety: Pinot Noir
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Alcohol: 13%
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Acidity: 5.6 g/L
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pH: 3.65
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Sweetness: Dry
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Harvest: Hand harvested, 8–26 March 2023
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Fermentation: Indigenous yeast fermentation in open-top fermenters
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Whole Bunch: Partial whole-bunch inclusion
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Maturation: 11 months in French oak barriques, 30% new
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Drinking Window: 2025–2035
