BLUE GOLD MEDAL - Sydney International Wine Competition 93 POINTS - Bob Campbell MW 92 POINTS - Robert Parker 5 STARS - Michael Coopers Wine Buyer's Guide
"The Gibbston Valley Reserve Pinot Noir is a wine with an incredible pedigree. It represents the pinnacle of our Pinot Noir production. Sophistication and elegance are its hallmark, being a wine both beautiful and intense –a rare state reserved for spare few." - Christopher Keys, Winemaker.
The wine has a wonderful deep red colour. The nose expresses both beauty and ripeness, with dense plum characters supported by rose petal florals and a spicy backdrop of clove and cinnamon. The palate is harmonious, very filling and svelte, but always elegant. The concentration of fruit is the dominant force as a young wine; time will allow the mineral underbelly to become more prominent as the wine gains complexity. Very silky tannins finish what is a delicate yet fulfilling textural experience.
A cool beginning to the growing season restricted yields to moderate levels. Warm weather through February and March ensured evenly proportioned and ripened fruit. Resulting wines from 2009 have a fresh fleshy beauty.
Hand picked fruit was destemmed into small open top fermenters, with 5-10% whole clusters used. Each parcel was given long, low impact macerations contribute to length and structural linearity. This means no more than 2 daily punchdowns during the heart of fermentation. Tannin complexity is promoted above extraction. Pressing took place after 4-5 weeks of maceration.
Following pressing the wine spent 16 months in barrel in the Gibbston Valley cave, all of it French, 60% new. Bottling took place in September 2010. The Reserve Pinot Noir is neither filtered nor cold stabilised.
To be included in a Gibbston Valley Reserve Pinot Noir the fruit must be something very special. Largely this amounts to a piece of the indefinable bestowed on a few rows of fruit in a great vintage. Human endeavour and reverential attention is poured on from the vine through to bottling. By its nature, production of the Reserve Pinot Noir is very limited. Since its inaugural release, the Reserve Pinot Noir has been awarded a consistent and lavish thread of success. It includes the multi trophies from the 1995, the coveted Champion Pinot Noir of the London International Wine Competition for the illustrious 2000 Reserve, and more recently the Champion Pinot Noir of the Sydney International Wine Competition for the 2008 Reserve.
Don't Pay: $130
WBW Rating: 95/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: Central Otago New Zealand
Winemaker: Christopher Keys
Drink now until: 2019
Alc/Vol: 14.09 %
