Otuwhero Estate OTU Pinot Noir 2020
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Luscious strawberry aromas with elegant cedar notes leap from the glass. This wine shows flavors of ripe red plum and plush cherries, supported by sinuous savory hints of mushroom. Notes of cedar come through in the palate as a wonderful background hint.
OTU Wine Estate brings together a unique, sea-swept terroir set at the edge of the Southern Ocean – where the ancient Otuwhero River runs through the lower valleys of Marlborough New Zealand – with an expert group of passionate people drawn from around the world of wine.
Cradled between snowy mountains and at the edge of the South Pacific Ocean, OTU Wine Estate is remote coastal and rugged terroir – and along with low vigor soils and long sunshine hours, produces distinctively bold, ripe fruit flavors, and exquisitely expressive wines. Planted entirely in Sauvignon Blanc at the outset, OTU Estate is made up of multiple vineyard blocks, predominantly planted on exposed north eastern facing slopes which now include Pinot Noir.
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.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.