ESCARPMENT Pinot Noir Pahi Single Vineyard - Martinborough 2022 CARTON x 6 Bottles - PRE-RELEASE

Description

ABOUT ESCARPMENT
Escarpment is a Martinborough estate founded in 1999 by Larry McKenna, whose passion for precise, site driven Pinot Noir established the winery as a standard bearer for New Zealand cool climate expression. After years of independent success McKenna sold the estate to Torbreck in 2019, a move that brought additional investment and distribution while keeping Escarpment’s vineyard focus intact. Head winemaker Tim Bourne now directs vinification and has continued the estate emphasis on terroir clarity, delicate extraction and restrained cellar intervention.

Vineyards lie on the famous Martinborough Terrace gravels and deep alluvial soils that give the wines a distinct combination of ripe fruit intensity and structural tannin. Escarpment’s single vineyard parcels are worked with meticulous canopy management, low yields and selective hand harvesting to capture optimum phenolic ripeness and to preserve natural acidity. Clonal diversity and careful rootstock choice are used to match vine vigour to soil depth and exposure, and vineyard practice is tailored to express subtle differences between blocks.

Winemaking is small batch and parcel oriented. Fermentations are conducted with a mix of whole bunch and destemmed fruit where appropriate, and the team employs gentle extraction techniques to retain aromatic lift while building structure. Some cuvees are bottled without fining or filtration to enhance texture and mouthfeel. Elevage regimes are chosen to support rather than dominate site character, with oak used judiciously to add complexity.

PAHI VINEYARD
The Pahi Vineyard is situated on Te Muna Road adjected to the Escarpment Vineyard. Planted in 2003, the site possesses the same alluvial, free draining gravel soils which has made Martinborough famous. From an exceptional single site, the estate grown Pahi Vineyard is an individual site selection Pinot Noir sourced from designated rows on the famed Martinborough Terrace.

DECANTER 95 points
Tasted by Emma Jenkins MW
Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
A little shy at first, then layers of fruit (cranberry, pomegranate, red plum), earth, minerals and spice. Good weight and silkiness on the palate with quite a firm tannin backbone and some oak spice (30%
French), but this is super-youthful and there’s plenty of rounded fruit to meld with the structural elements. Just a baby and a little buttoned down, but should blossom beautifully

MATTHEW DUKES 18.5/20 points
If Kiwa is the stiletto knife, then Pahi is a cutlass. Curved, broader, weightier and every bit as impactful, but a very different creature indeed. There is none of Kiwa’s directness. Instead, you are rewarded with a richer, more impactful arc of flavour that seems stem-less and with fewer oak notes. I suspect this is because Pahi fruit results in a more lush and expansive style of wine, and it is drinking, too! Of course, the calibre of fruit in each of these wines means you can drink them all now, but Pahi is the first out of the blocks, and it is a beauty! (Drink now – 2032

THE WINE ADVOCATE Erin Larkin 93 points
The 2022 Pahi Pinot Noir is only the second Pahi since 2014 (2020 was the other one), due to a change of ownership of the Pahi Vineyard.

The wine has a succulent, chewy texture that is most pleasurable on the mid-palate. There’s red fruit, particularly pomegranate, that melds beautifully with a gentle shortcrust pastry character, pink peppercorns and a hint of clove and arnica through the finish. The ripeness of the wine is evident in a splay of dried red fruits through the finish, specifically goji berries.

14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Pahi is a slightly more vigorous block with four hectares. This was made with clones Abel, 5, 115 and 667, and 37% whole bunch fruit was used, with 28 days on the skins. Aging was in 30% new oak (mostly Quintessence), and the balance was one-and two-year-old barrels. It was in oak for 20 months without racking before bottling.

*****

Terms and Conditions
Offer - Subject to availability
Delivery - 2026
Prices - Include Freight, Duty & GST
Storage - On arrival into Jersey Free Storage until 30th April 2027
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