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Tasting notes
The 2020 Kiwa Pinot Noir is from the original Kiwa vineyard in Martinborough town (now not servicing the Kiwa cuvée from the 2022 vintage). On the nose, the wine is sedate and placid, but in the mouth, it has lovely energy and poise. The wine has weight and girth on the mid-palate, but it has agility and litheness as well. It's athletic but chunky, if that makes sense to you. It does me. There's spiced Christmas cherry, licorice, arnica, star anise and pink peppercorns, sweet roasted meat crust and earthy beetroot. Ripeness sits nicely in the wine, feeling part of its identity. Savory block and looking savory today. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Kiwa was picked on March 17, with 57% whole bunch. Clones 5 and 6 were used, and it spent 22 days on skins, plunged twice daily. Aged in 31% new oak, it matured for 16 months with one racking during the journey and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Single vineyard (Cleland). About 60% whole bunch. Aged 16 months in barriques (around one-third new). Very pale garnet. Hint of beetroot and then sweet, fresh, light, non-aggressive fruit. Just ends a little suddenly. (JR)
The elegant, silky, mid-weight 2020 Pinot Noir Kiwa doesn’t need to shout to get your attention. Alongside the plum skin and cherry fruit, there’s a distinctive herbal and floral perfume, no doubt enhanced by 50% whole bunch, which also contributes to the structured frame of firm, grippy tannins. This shows excellent concentration and depth of fruit that lightly caresses the mid-palate. The conclusion is long, offering damsons, black tea and baking spices; the tannins are both firm and abundant and need time to soften in bottle.
About the producer
Based in Martinborough, Escarpment is one of New Zealand’s leading producers of Pinot Noir. The estate’s top cuvée Kupe is widely regarded as a benchmark example of the region’s potential for producing world-class Pinot Noir.