Huia Pinot Noir 2017
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On the nose the Huia Pinot Noir shows notes of spice, violets and dark cherry. The palate is rich and full with plum and dark cherry alongside hints of spice and savory notes.
Other Vintages
2016-
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast
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Wine
Enthusiast
Claire and Mike arrived in Marlborough, New Zealnd in 1990 and officially started Huia Vineyards in 1996. Those early years were spent gaining valuable experience in wineries in Marlborough. Mike at Cloudy Bay and Vavasour whilst Claire was at Corbans and Lawson's Dry Hills. They also both worked and made wine in Champagne at Veuve Cliquot and Taittinger respectively.
This diverse, hands-on experience gave them a great grounding in making bright New World wines, but also integrated an appreciation of the sense of land, heritage and tradition from the Old World. When they purchased the wonderful Home block in Rapaura, it took several years to get it cleared, build the house and get the first vines planted.
At Huia Vineyards no pesticides, insecticides or herbicides are used in the vineyards. Within the wine making process they eliminate the use of artificial additives. This leaves the wine full of natural texture.
Huia minimizes the amount of intervention throughout fermentation by using wild yeast ferments. Biodynamic growing is integrated into the vineyard organic program. Animals graze on the vineyard blocks, and the diversity of wildflowers, trees and other plants keep the resident beehives busy. The composting of winery and vineyard waste allows Huia to return all natural matter back to the vineyard.
The sustainability of the land and surrounding ecosystem are supported and respected. Claire and Mike are equipped to use natural methods in their vineyard management and wine making process. Overall, everything is allowed to be “au naturel”. It is a lifestyle choice at Huia, and they love it.
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.