Vineyard: Escaroth Vineyard
Subregion: Taylor Pass
Region: Marlborough 
Vintage: 2020
Soil Type: Low-vigour ancient clays
Clone: Dijon clones 777 and 115
Viticulture: Dry-farmed and Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Growers: Andy and Kyna Laurie

Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) Certified 

Winemaker's Notes: 

Escaroth Vineyard is a site that truly reflects vintage variation: this year's release simply ticks all the boxes for Pinot Noir fanatics. It has a beguiling, complex perfume that treads both red/blue fruit and an enchanting spice, game and earthy savouriness. The very low-yielding vintage (4.6 t/ha) coupled with the dry-farmed nature of the site has resulted in incredible concentration and intensity.

2020 was the second drought year in a trio (2019 - 2021), all of which demanded the use of whole-bunch to ensure balanced extraction and lifted aromatics. The result is a very complex, savoury Pinot Noir with a structured yet elegant tannin framework. As this wine is bottled without filtration, a small amount of natural sediment may form with time. 

Reviews: 

5 STARS ***** "Already very expressive, the 2020 vintage (5*) was hand-harvested from 19 year-old vines at Taylor Pass, in the Southern Valleys, and matured for a year in French oak barriques. Bright ruby, it is a refined, complex wine, very savoury and supple, with deep, ripe cherry, plum and spice flavours, finely integrated oak, and a silky-textured, very harmonious finish. Best drinking 2025+." Michael Cooper, February 2023

94 Points "Elegant, textural pinot noir with cherry/berry, violet, brambles/grape stems and mixed spice flavours. Supple, high energy wine with latent complexity that needs a little bottle age to reveal. Drinking Window 2023–2031" Bob Campbell MW, December 2022 

94 Points "There’s a unique quality about the bouquet of this wine with a soft floral scents and heirloom red berry fruit fragrances with a fine lightly toasted wood quality and most importantly - a sense of place and time. Youthful and complex. Textures from tannins, wood and acidity touch the palate first with a savoury quality before the flavours of red berries, plums, flowers and red currant. Taut and textured with a youthful energy and drive. Best drinking from mid to late 2024 through 2030+. Keen to try this wine again then." Cameron Douglas MS 

2019 Vintage: 

97 Points - Outstanding "A perfumed, complex bouquet with aromas of roses and ripe cherry, a soft raw sugar and baking spices scent with a core of silty soil minerality. Equally complex with a firm yet finely textured mouthfeel, harmonious synergies between fruit, minerality, tannins and acidity. With each taste the complexity expands with flavours of cherry and plum, forest berries and wild flowers. A Grand Cru level wine with a delicious, layered, perfumed, youthful and long. Best drinking from late 2022 through 2030+." Cameron Douglas MS, October 2021

95 Points - "From a dry-farmed vineyard in the Taylor Pass and one of the driest vintages on record. Dense, concentrated wine with floral, cherry, berry and dried herb flavours. A powerful, firmly-structured wine that is built for the long-haul." Bob Campbell MW, November 2021

95 Points - "Saturated with dense, ripe fruit. A little note of reduction, some savoury oak spice and flavours of crushed rosemary and red plum give a compelling multi-layered character. A silken texture with a ripe, powdery tannic grip." Jane Skilton MW | Gourmet Traveller WINE, January 2022

17.5 Points - "Colour is a little lighter and more smudgy than in the Settlement 2019. And there’s much more lifted red-fruit scent and prettiness. The slightly herbal stemmy note shows more than on the Settlement, though it is well moderated to match the fruit, even if there is a hint of capsicum, which some Pinot lovers may not want. Juicy, deliciously stemmy in its fragrance and freshness on the palate, the zippy, fragrant fruit and whole-bunch technique perfectly matched to bring harmony and refreshment. Vibrant, mouth-watering, long. Utterly different from the more powerful Settlement. More like top-notch Hautes-Côtes in build and style. Julia Harding MW | JancisRobinson.com 27/01/22

5 Stars - "The fragrant, silky-textured 2019 vintage (5*) was harvested from ultra low-cropping (3.2 tonnes per hectare), 18 year-old vines at Taylor Pass, in the Southern Valleys. Deep ruby, it is full-bodied, with deep cherry, plum and spice flavours, a herbal twist, fine, supple tannins, and excellent complexity and harmony." Michael Cooper, February 2022 

View the Escaroth Vineyard

View Tasting Notes - 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020