Te Awanga Estate Pinot Noir 2017

Te Awanga is a special piece of dirt.

Planted 25 years ago by a group of friends in one of Hawke’s Bay’s oldest wine growing areas, they dreamed of making the region’s greatest wines. We’re still working on that, but believe our vineyard by the coast truly captures something unique. Not only the physical home of our much-loved cellar door by the sea, Te Awanga Estate is a range of single estate wines that are rich, mouth-filling and long-lived.

Once harvested from Te Awanga's coastal estate block, the super ripe fruit was de-stemmed and cold-soaked for up to seven days before a natural ferment kicked off. The wine was pumped over up to three times a day at the height of ferment and spent a total of three weeks on skins. The wine was matured in new and used French oak before it was blended and lightly fined.

The resulting wine exhibits tobacco, violet and subtle earth characters on the nose, with complex liquorice and cherry flavours on the palate. The tannins are firm but melting and provide a supporting structure. 13% abv.

Without doubt, this is the finest Hawke's Bay Pinot Noir we've tried. It is succulent, silky & soft. Better yet, it's already been cellared and bottle aged for you. Drinking perfectly now. Don't miss this!

4.5 Stars (90/100) - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit