ESCARPMENT Pinot Noir Te Rehua 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.

TE REHUA VINEYARD
This vineyard has a very clear style expression evolving from a traditional planting approach. Geoff Bunny sourced as many clones of Pinot Noir that were available in 1990 and planted them at random in the 1.1ha site. Diversity in planting material is an important part of Terrior producing more complexity and an array of fruit flavours in the resulting wines. Now owned by Tim & Ruth Barton the site is well sheltered and on the edge of the escarpment formed by the Huangarua River. The alluvial loams are typical of Martinborough and help to give the unique qualities when combined with the ideal summer and autumn weather patterns.

Grown on vines planted in the 1990s, the wine shows black cherry and plum core fruit, with savoury forest floor, black tea and licorice notes. A note of stem inclusion adds aromatic lift and a firmer tannic frame, giving the wine a robust presence for Martinborough while retaining elegance. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, it offers plush texture now and the capacity to develop for up to fifteen years. Serve gently chilled to cellar temperature and pair with roast meats, game or charcuterie.

MATTHEW JUKES 19/20 points
If you leave Kupe to one side for a second (you will note it is priced on a different tier to the others), you might think that a Burgundy framework might work quite well for this stunning portfolio, where the pair of estate wines equate to village classification. Kiwa, Pahi and Te Ruhua are the Premiers Crus, and the pricey one, Kupe (below), might aspire to Grand Cru status. Now, I know this might sound somewhat irrational, but I am so taken by 2022 Te Rehua that any Burgundy comparisons seem facile. Te Rehua is no one’s Premier Cru. None of the ancient Burgundian class systems make sense in New Zealand and I have been saying this for aeons. But, if the world were turned on its head, this wine and the next one would long have been grated GC status, so there, I have said it. This is an utterly incredible wine, with profound silkiness, magical depth and spectacular herb and stem details. With 21% whole bunches (I wish it had been 22 in 22!) and 43% new French oak, this is the best ever Te Rehua, and it stands a chance of being the finest wine ever made under this label. I have always liked this cuvée, but this is a revelation. Bang! (Drink 2025 – 2035)

THE WINE ADVOCATE Erin Larkin 93 points
The 2022 Te Rehua Pinot Noir is the darkest in color, with lashings of brooding exotic spice, black cherries, blood plum and even a hint of pepper-rolled pastrami. In the mouth, the wine is illuminated by fresh acidity; the ripe fruit speaks of blackberries and mouthfilling sweet roasted beetroot and brine. There is a duality of ripe fruit and very fine acidity in the mouth; they sit comfortably within each other’s arms. 14.2% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Te Rehua was planted in the 1990s, in town, at 1.5 hectares and using massal selection of clones. Normally, it’s the first pick of the vintage, as it’s a warmer site sheltered by hedges—brilliant hedges in New Zealand. Grapes were picked on March 20, where they sat on the skins for 25 days. Made with 21% whole bunch (normally around 50%), it was pressed down to 43% in new French barriques, with the balance being one- and two-year-old barrels. It spent 20 months in oak, with no racking prior to bottling.