2019 Marlborough Pinot Noir
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Tasting notes
Novum's 2019 Pinot Noir was a bit disappointing compared to the 2016 I reviewed last year (two bottles tasted with consistent notes). It's pleasant enough, combining hints of button mushrooms, ripe cherries and traces of root vegetables, but they're all low-intensity, as if the volume has been dialed back. Medium-bodied on the palate, with modest, slightly dusty tannins on the finish, this may be consumed now and over the next few years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
This is a delicate, nuanced style that grows on you. Its aromas wax and wane, offering dried herbs, then plum, cranberry and smoky notes. While there's plenty of concentration from low yields, it remains light on its feet. This is low-intervention winemaking with a wild fermentation taking place after a 4–5-day wait for the indigenous yeasts to get going. The post-fermentation maceration time was a lengthy six weeks and the resulting tannins are well resolved, offering a fine grain. The wine spent 11 months maturing in French oak (20% new) but there are no oaky flavors, allowing the fruit to shine. No fining nor filtration leaves this as it is meant to be: a pure, layered Pinot that can be approached from youth to eight years.