Loveblock Pinot Noir 2017
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Deep, dark crimson. Aromas of big, ripe black cherry with smoky notes and hints of mushroom peeking out behind rich fruit. Fleshy black plum, with layers of cherry and sweet berries that play on the palate and dance with notes of violet. Dry tannins and hints of cigar make this a versatile wine to pair with turkey, salmon, lamb and beef.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This is a tightly wound, laser-focused Pinot that offers lifted aromas of red raspberry, cherry flowers, savory herb, stalk and a streak of mush-rooms in hoisin sauce. A long line of savory tannins knit together crunchy fruit on the palate and flow right through to the herb-flecked finish.
-
Wine Spectator
Savory and distinctive, with minty herbal and minerally crushed rock details to the core of firm cherry and raspberry flavors, accented by clove and cumin notes. The tannins firm up on the finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Spectator -
Tasting
Panel
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Spectator -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
-
Tasting
Panel -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Enthusiast
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.