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2020 Una Volta Pinot Noir | Central Otago Magnum
$185.00 NZD
Wine Description
Vineyard: Renaissance Vineyard
Subregion: Bannockburn
Region: Central Otago
Vintage: 2020
Soil Type: Mineral rich with glacial origins: a mixture of loess, gravels, schist and quartz
Viticulture: Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ).
Winemaker's Notes:
This is our second 'Una Volta' Pinot Noir from Central Otago, which is rather confusing considering Una Volta means 'one time' in Italian!
The 'Una Volta' name is designated to limited release one-off parcels that we believe will make something very special. The 2020 Una Volta hails from a site with impressive pedigree: the Renaissance Vineyard on Bannockburn's Felton Road.
Sophie's family friends planted, manage and own this close-planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay site above the Kawarau River and opposite the Bannockburn sluicings in the Cromwell Basin where Sophie grew up. So, it was only fitting that when a small 4.5 tonne parcel of this fruit was offered to us in 2020 we said yes.
We're very excited to able to showcase Bannockburn Pinot Noir with all its glorious fragrance, generosity, innate structure and staying power.
Reviews:
2020 'Una Volta' Pinot Noir | Bannockburn:
5 STARS - ‘The 2020 vintage is a single-vineyard red, hand-harvested at Bannockburn and bottled without filtering. Ruby hued, it is a mouthfilling, very savoury wine, with deep cherry, plum, spice and nut flavours, showing excellent complexity, and a well- structured, finely poised finish. Best drinking 2025+.’ -MICHAEL COOPER MA ONZM
96 POINTS - OUTSTANDING ‘Fragrant and complex, there’s a delicacy as much as there is power; aromas of place and time, cherry flesh and raspberry, a fine savoury dried herb quality with layers of oak and mineral earth qualities. Plush and ripe with satin textures touching the palate first, flavours of cherries and flowers, dried herb and tilled soils. The oak add complexity and texture from a soft vanilla and sweetness to coarse silk tannins then a medium+ acid line. Delicious, powerful and charming. Best drinking from late 2024 or early 2025 through 2032+.’ - CAMERON DOUGLAS MS
95 POINTS - ‘Pinot noir with restrained power and flavours suggesting black cherry, plum, mixed spice/wild thyme and spicy oak supported by fine, peppery tannins. Accessible but with good cellaring potential.’ - BOB CAMPBELL MW
18 POINTS (Top Equal Scoring NZ 2020 Pinot Noir) - ‘Mid bricky red though a lot less evolved in colour than the 2019 Anthem Pinot. More savoury than the Anthem, more Côte de Nuits, with deeper bass notes of spice and ripe but not particularly sweet fruit – yet sweeter than burgundy. A touch of dried cherries. This has real depth on the palate, some spice, firm and smooth tannin texture and plenty of freshness in the most powerful of the Blank Canvas Pinots in this line-up. I personally prefer the Anthem style, with slightly more obvious stem effect, but this is impressive in its depth and staying power. Long and deliciously dry finish.’ - JULIA HARDING MW | JANCISROBINSON.COM
93 POINTS - ‘The 2020 Pinot Noir Una Volta is sourced from a parcel on Felton Road. It is open and fluid with a sense of plumpness and fruit generosity held together with a tension and line holding its shape. There's woody herbs and lifted florals from the whole bunches alongside cherry fruit, black tea, nutmeg and cloves on the drawn-out finish. The concluding impression is one of freshness, sinew and pep.’ - REBECCA GIBB MW | VINOUS.COM
92 POINTS - ‘Very succulent and juicy with plums and ripe strawberries with some orange peel undertones. Medium to full body. Round and creamy tannins and an enjoyable finish. Hard not to drink now. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap.’ - JAMES SUCKLING
Winemakers Notes
This single vineyard rendition of Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from the Holdaway Family vineyard at Dillons Point – our favourite sub region for the variety. It is a classic expression of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, being 100% tank fermented, but it offers complexity of texture and a mineral drive that summons river stones and sea spray. Blackcurrant, guava and passionfruit are captured alongside the subtlest hint of oyster-shell. This wine is focused and explosive on both nose and palate yet remains elegantly balanced and distinctly salty.
Reviews
94 POINTS - ‘Intense, aromatic sauvignon with pronounced passion fruit/tropical fruit flavours together with grapefruit, red capsicum, oyster shell and gooseberry supported by vibrant juicy acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish.’ BOB CAMPBELL MW
93 POINTS - ‘Juicy aromas of greengage and honeydew are trimmed in slight flint and vetiver. The palate is tight, crisp and linear with saline tension built from reduction and phenolics. Slightly awkward presently with a bony, steely austerity to the midly astringent grip on the finish, but this will resolve in the next year to reveal the sweet apple fruit hiding within the mineral shell.’ STEPHEN WONG
5 STARS - ‘This single-vineyard wine is grown at Dillons Point, in the lower Wairau Valley. Already delicious, the distinctive 2024 vintage has a fresh, fragrant bouquet. Mouth-filling and vibrantly fruity, it has a lovely array of pure, penetrating fruit flavours - passionfruit, peach, pear and lime - a slightly salty streak, and a crisp, dry, lingering finish. Best drinking mid-2025+.’ MICHAEL COOPER MA ONZM
95 POINTS - ‘A stunning example with a bouquet of minerality and salty air, scents of nettles and tropical fruits, cape gooseberry and citrus peel. As the wine touches the palate the impacts of acidity and fresh citrus fruits are revealed first, then apple and fresh sage, basil and aforementioned tropical fruits. Saline and fresh, a delicious wine with a decent palate squeeze. Lengthy and well made with best drinking from day of purchase through 2029+.’ CAMERON DOUGLAS MS
17 POINTS - ‘Intensely aromatic and immediately recognisable as Marlborough Sauvignon, both peapod and more exotic passionfruit, plus grapefruit and blackcurrant leaf, even a touch of capsicum. Tastes dry and extremely crisp, though there is a roundness and depth in the mouth from the sweetness of fruit, which is more passionfruit and guava on the palate as it warms up. Treads a fine line between fruit sweetness/intensity and crisp elegance. Chewy finish – from the lees – and extremely moreish in its freshness. Intense but not excessively pungent, with a long, rich but dry finish. It may well age longer but I'd enjoy this while the fruit is so vibrant.’ JULIA HARDING MW | JANICSROBINSON.COM
94 POINTS - ‘The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc Holdaway Vineyard provides a vivid, vibrant, crisp and crunchy expression. It's finely flavored but not overt: expect a salty note like the sea air, lemon, passion fruit and snow pea flavors lending back up. Despite its assertiveness, it is finely poised and has a much better sense of direction than I do, providing line and length.' REBECCA GIBB MW | VINOUS.COM
92 POINTS - ‘The aromas of currant bush, passion fruit and green melon are subtle. Medium-bodied, refined and textured. Understated Marlborough sauvignon. Drink now. Screw cap.’ JAMES SUCKLING
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