Source: End of July 2019, The Wine Advocate; Issue Date: 31st Jul 2016 (RP-94)

The 2016 Burn Cottage Vineyard Pinot Noir is a wine of tremendous appeal and seduction. Herb-tinged black cherries and cola notes appear on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is rich and silky, lined with plush yet well-defined tannins that support the fruit and linger on the long finish. It's approachable now, but it should drink well for a decade or more.

Drink Date: 2019 - 2030

Source: jamessuckling.com. Issue Date: Monday, December 17, 2018 (JS-93)

Ripe red cherries with attractive spicy complexity. Silky, supple and deeply flavorsome palate with smooth, mellow tannins that carry plenty of fresh, bright red-cherry flavor. Drink now. Screw cap.

Source: Winemaker,

Vintage Notes:

After a cool winter, there were also instances of frost fighting in the early parts of the season with some cold nights. Flowering was relatively quick, and it was windy at times through this period so the resulting bunches were quite open. Mild, favourable conditions prevailed through to late January, after which temperatures rose and a warm and dry February ensued. Apart from some scattered instances of rain, the remaining season continued warm and dry, and the ripening progressed well to picking in early April.

Winemaker Tasting Notes:

One of our dear friends in Central Otago is Grant Taylor, the former winemaker of Gibbston Valley Vineyards and proprietor of Valli Vineyards, one of the great producers of Central Otago. Grant is an iconic figure in Central, equally beloved for his wonderful wines and his quick wit. Over the course of several months in 2013 we decided that it would be great fun to swap grapes from each other's estate vineyard and make the wines, with each of us vineyard designating the result, and this is the third year of our collaboration doing so. In our view, there is no finer vineyard in the Gibbston region than Grant's. The professionalism, care and love which go into the management of this site are exemplary. The 2016 Burn Cottage Valli Vineyard wine shows lovely aromatic layers with florals, vibrant cherry and cassis, wet earth, spice and dried wild herb notes. A supple and concentrated palate displays generosity, while fine tannins lend persistence. Expressive now, we expect the layers, balance and complexity of this wine to reward for many years.

Finished wine detail: pH 3.75

TA 4.0 g/l

Alc 13.0%

Harvested: 10th April 2016

Average Brix at harvest: 22.0

Whole cluster percentage: 24%

New oak percentage: 25%

Cooperages : Damy

Average time in fermenter: 19 days

Clones: UCD5

UCD6

Dijon 115

Dijon 777

Vine Age : 17 years

Plant density: 4050 vines/Ha

Bottled volume : 98 cases