Our love for Pinot Noir dates back to the mid-1980s when we planted our first block here in Kumeu. Having already started on our journey to create a world-class Chardonnay, we knew this grape needed a Burgundian counterpart because what grows well where great Chardonnay grows? Now produced from two sites, our Hunting Hill Vineyard in Kumeu and Rays Road in Hawke's Bay, these two single vineyards show very different expressions of Pinot Noir.
Hunting Hill Pinot Noir was planted in 1994 over clay and grown here in the warmer conditions of Kumeu, often providing a beautiful purity of black fruit characters.
The Rays Road, in Hawke's Bay, is a colder, higher altitude vineyard planted on limestone. It's a much cooler site and provides very intense and focused Pinot Noir characteristics. This is a block that we're most excited about for this variety.
Enjoy the stylistic differences between these two wines with the Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 3 Pack or the Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 6 Pack.
Along with our Chardonnays, we recently shared our Pinot Noirs with well-known wine critics James Suckling and Bob Campbell MW. We were delighted to receive 90+ reviews for both Rays Road and Hunting Hill Pinot Noirs.
2020 Kumeu River Hunting Hill Pinot Noir
93 Points - Bob Campbell MW
92 Points - James Suckling
2020 Kumeu River Rays Road Pinot Noir
92 Points - Bob Campbell MW
90 Points - James Suckling