2012 Prima Donna Pinot Noir

Pale to medium ruby-purple, the nose of the 2012 Prima Donna Pinot Noir is a bit closed at this youthful stage revealing a core of red berries and mulberries plus notes of fungi, forest floor and mossy bark. Medium-bodied with a great core of tense, tight-knit flavors, it offers firm fine tannins and great length.

Bright full red. Pungent, wild aromas of raspberry, herbs, white pepper and game; in a distinctly meaty Burgundian style. Then smooth, savory and fine-grained in the mouth, with lovely early complexity to the red fruit, smoked meat, rose petal and peppery spice flavors; still some CO2 to be absorbed. Boasts a suave texture for the vintage and conveys an impression of brooding energy. Finishes spicy, subtle and long, with lingering notes of red berries, minerals and earth. A selection of the estate's best barrels, this is routinely one of New Zealand's elite pinot noirs.

"This wine is pretty close in style (and certainly right in line in quality terms) to the regular Pegasus Bay pinot from 2012, with the main difference that it's a more specific wine, a wine with more lift on the palate, more reach and a keener, more specific focus. The nose has all the swirling toasted spices but the fruits are redder, more bright and more fragrant, too. The palate has more space, more light and shade, is more defined and more articulate, has immense purity and is terrifically crunchy. There are red cherries at the core, dark spices, earth and fine chocolate at the edge. It's very long and direct. Will age magnificently. Drink in 2018"