Allan Scott Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020
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This succulent Pinot Noir has aromas of spice, currant and dark Ghana chocolate. A juicy cherry mouthfeel matches perfectly with the grippy bitterness of the dark cocoa. A long and luxurious feel on the palate will remind you of your favourite cherry jam colliding with that warm dark cup of black tea.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Allan Scott Family Winemakers Pinot Noir is beautifully balanced from start to finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of wild strawberries and a hint of chalk. Enjoy it with a flavorful lamb stew. (Tasted: October 21, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Spectator
Delivers a core of juicy, vibrant cherry, cranberry and pomegranate notes, with tomato leaf, spice, white pepper, tobacco and a hint of cocoa on the velvety finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
On the richer, darker end of the spectrum, this well-priced Pinot offers powerful potpourri aromas that sit atop vibrant red fruit, savory spice and a sanguine character. Somewhat meaty, mealy oak lingers beneath. In the mouth, the red fruit and spice feel fresh, even if the acidity is a little sharp. Chiseled, savory tannins add some heft. This is still a baby and should age nicely over the next five to eight years.
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Just like the vines themselves, the family's story is entwined in the very roots of Marlborough winemaking. Allan Scott planted some of the region's first vineyards in the 1970s and has been a part of every vintage grown here since.
In 1990, Allan and his wife Catherine founded Allan Scott Family Winemakers, one of the region's first independent wineries. Just as the name promises, it has always been a family endeavour, and it now has evolved into a true family calling. Allan and Cathy's children, son Josh and younger daughter Sara, have assumed full control of the company and lead the production, management, and development alongwith a highly skilled operational team.
The Scott family attributes their achievements to the exceptional vineyard sites they have carefully chosen, an intimate understanding of the terroir, ideal growing conditions, and an unwavering commitment to crafting the world's finest wines.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.