Mulling over Pinot Noir Memories at Te Whare Ra

Memories are made of New Zealand pinot noir, and one recent memory in particular, according to Tim White of the Australian Financial Review, is the 2012 pinot from Marlborough vineyard Te Whare Ra.

“When I tasted the winery’s pinot my head went straight back to my one and only visit there in September 2012,” White says.

“Te Whare Ra hosts the oldest vines in the district: chardonnay, riesling, and gewürztraminer planted in 1979. Since 2003, the vineyard and winery has been owned and run by Jason and Anna Flowerday (pictured). Through a lot of hard work – the vineyard is now BIOGRO NZ certified organic – they have greatly enhanced the estate’s already significant reputation.

“I tasted that ‘12 pinot noir from the barrel that morning and I’d admired it then, but little did I think that I’d happen on it in a blind tasting at an Australian Wine Research Institute tasting almost two years later. It is one of the rewards of this sometimes necessarily critical vocation, when things turn out so.”

According to White, the Te Whare Ra Pinot Noir 2012 has an “excellent palate depth and long, lingering mouth-watering tropical and cooler fruit, there’s chew and bite.”

Original article by Tim White, Australian Financial Review, August 8, 2014.