97 points, Sam Kim

“Seductive and immensely complex, the enticing bouquet shows dark berry, dried porcini, warm spice and cedar characters. The palate exhibits outstanding concentration and depth, gracefully framed by rich texture and beautifully melded tannins. Plush and seamless with an impressively long, expansive finish. At its best: now to 2036.”

96 points, International Wine Challenge (IWC) 2025

• Gold Medal

• Best New Zealand Red Wine

• Best New Zealand Pinot Noir

• Best North Otago Pinot Noir

"This is a stunning wine from an isolated area in the far south of New Zealand's South Island. Wonderfully lush texture fills the mouth and the wine has a meaty savouriness to go with it's black cherry and dark plum fruit and a perfume like the rising sap of Springtime."

 96 points, Cameron Douglas 

“Complex, pure and enticing bouquet of mineral chalky soils and ripe fruits of dried raspberry and dark cherry, boysenberry and soft dried herbs suggesting sage and thyme. The use of oak is specific and precise with scents of mostly new barrel with some older. As the wine touches the palate the flavours of oak strike first then give way to the core fruit and mineral flavours from the bouquet then dried herb and savoury complexities. There’s a tautness to the palate with an abundance of polished tannins and barrel spice, plenty of acidity and a complex finish. A wine for the cellar with best drinking likely from 2028 through 2038+.” 

95 points, Bob Campbell 

“Dense, intense pinot noir with cherry/berry, spicy/smoky oak, cassis, and a lingering fruity finish. Tight, compact wine with pleasing layers and a taut structure that shows exciting bottle maturation potential. Drink now – 2031” 

98 points, FWD Tasting Panel

"Super soft, supple and silky in the mouth, this is a Pinot of amazing beauty, concentration and length, that builds in stature the longer you savour each mouthful. The abundant mix of black fruits and exotic spices captivate. The fine toast oak and elegant savoury & saline thread all add to the intrigue of this Chambolle-Musigny like Waitaki Pinot Noir. So approachable in its youth, it will continue to become more savoury and captivating through 2031-2035. Generously proportioned with black fruit, Damson plum & Bing cherry at the core, seasoned with perfumed clove, anise & black pepper underpinned by intriguing savoury & saline characters. The oak is fine and subtly toasty, beautifully integrated into the bouquet. In the mouth it’s deceptively full bodied, showing density & concentration of those beautiful fruits & spices within a structural framework of fine, supple tannins & lacy acidity which flow through the wine in a graceful line with length & poise. Enjoy now (with a light decant) and savour its complex and beguiling evolution through 2035."

95 points, Candice Chow 

“Deep crimson with a hint of purple, lighter on the rim. The bouquet is captivating, with sweet and delicate aromas of cherry, raspberry, floral, herb and savoury attributes. Medium-bodied, aromas of Morello cherry and raspberry entwined with cherry blossom, cinnamon, thyme, hibiscus tea and black pepper. A chalky mineral texture coats the palate along with silky tannins braided with lacy acidity, carrying a refined, extended, mesmerising finish. Match with duck breast and suckling pig over the next 10 years. Clones 115, 667, 777, UCD6 and Abel, handpicked, fermented to 13.5% alc, aged 15 months in Burgundy barrels, 20% new oak.”

18.5/20, Richard Hemming 

"This is one of those wines that stops you in your tracks. Raspberry liqueur and cranberry juice and mossy earth as well as cumin spice and a long, mineral complexity to the finish. A breed apart from the (very good) 2018. Among the best of the best i've tried."